


Yu-Gi-Oh Lost

by KatherinePlums



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Made up cards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatherinePlums/pseuds/KatherinePlums
Summary: Yui Rei goes through life as any middle school student would, she pays attention to class, does her homework, etc. Yui has never been the best at being confident, her life will soon change as she is told to go on a journey. Playing her cards and avoiding lethal villains, her story might play out as one of her favorite book genres as she learns new things about herself.*Season 2 is currently being made
Kudos: 8





	1. Fire 1: Yui Rei

**Author's Note:**

> {This work is inspired by Yugioh and Yugioh Arc V which was created by Kazuki Takahashi}

The sun shone brightly above the urban Souel City. Students were walking to Souel middle school. Female uniforms consisted of a white long-sleeved blouse with pink cuffs, a black skirt, and a pink tie. Male uniforms consisted of a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a purple tie, and blue pants. In one of the senior classrooms was Evie Rei. A 14-year-old girl with black hair that reached her shoulders and emerald green eyes, She wore the school uniform with black socks that reached to her knees, brown shoes, as well as a blue necklace with three white circular gems. In the same classroom was Kyou Sora, a boy the same age as Evie. He had dark brown hair, golden eyes and was wearing the male school uniform. 

“Yesterday’s test was so hard” Evie whined, the rest of the girls laughed.

“I know right? The teacher adds stuff we didn’t even learn yet” one of the girls said.

“I thought I did find” another girl added. The group laughed. 

“We’ll see about that! Tomorrow morning at the skatepark!” Kyou said to another classmate.

Evie and her friends turned around to see the commotion.

“You’re so on!” The classmate responded back before leaving.

“Did you challenge someone to Duel Monsters Kyou?” Evie asked.

“Yep! And I am going to win!” Kyou announced. Nobody cheered him on.

“Oh come on! Evie, You think I’ll win right?” Kyou asked.

“Hmm… yes” Evie answered.

“Yui! Don’t you agree?” Kyou asked.

The girl seated at the table next to Evie’s was Yui Rei. The two girls who were blocking her view separated and revealed Yui setting a book down and turning toward Kyou. Yui was a 14-year-old girl. She had sapphire blue eyes, and short dual-colored hair that almost reached the tip of her shoulders, blue bangs that were shifted to the side and orange-red hair in the back. She wore her school uniform along with white socks that went up above her knees and a necklace matching Evie’s except hers was black with three red gems. 

“Um... I agree with Evie” Yui timidly answered, she used her book to hide her face, pretending to go back to reading.

“See? I get two votes” Kyou said confidently. 

“Two votes out of the entire classroom,” Evie said. The class laughed to Kyou’s dismay. 

The class then quickly quieted down as the teacher entered the classroom and everyone returned to their seats. 

… 

At Lunch, Evie ate lunch at a table with a few other girls. Yui had a table all to herself as she ate lunch alone

“Yui, want some?” Evie offered Yui some of her food.

Yui shook her head no but was surprised when a loaf of bread was stuffed into her mouth by the ravenette. Yui then proceeded to slowly chew on the bread.

“Come eat with us, please?” Evie asked taking Yui’s hand in hers.

Yui swallowed the part of the bread she chewed on and took the rest of it out of her mouth and into her hand. 

“I’m ok by myself” She answered.

“Please? They’re nice I promise” 

“It’s ok, I don’t want to make it awkward” Yui said.

“... ok” Evie signed before going back to the table she was at before.

… 

The next class was gym. Students wore red T-shirt’s with black shorts, they were running laps and jumping over obstacle courses. 

Yui had stopped for a break. Evie and Kyou noticed the girl sitting by herself and happily ran up to her.

“Yui! There you are! You run so fast, you were almost invisible” Evie said while taking heavy breaths.

“Yeah, I-” Kyou tried to speak as he was panting hard.

“catch up- sorry- not great- running” Kyou wheezed as he tried to speak.

“Are you ok?” Yui asked.

“I’ll be fine”

… 

At the end of school. Yui prepared her bag and pulled out a skateboard from her locker. She put on her helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads before stepped out of the building. Evie was already outside wearing a pair of roller skates, protective pads, and a helmet.

“Over here Yui!” Evie called out waving her arm. Yui dropped her skateboard on the ground and rode towards Evie. The two girls rode their way home. On the way Evie had begun twirling and spinning around on her skates, she was slightly increasing her speed with each stride. At one point she had become careless and started fumbling, trying to regain balance. Yui immediately caught Evie before she fell to the ground. 

“Ah, Thank you Yui” Evie said with a giggle. Yui smiled in response. They continued riding home. 

… 

“We’re home everyone!” Evie called out. On cue, a small army of small cats and dogs ran up to the two girls, giving kisses and jumping at their legs. Yui and Evie lived by themselves in a house just outside the city but still a close distance to their school. The house was provided to them by the mayor of Souel City, who at the same time supports them financially. The house was a single-story building, consisting of a living room with an open kitchen, two bedrooms, one guest room, and a bathroom. Evie loved cute animals. Whenever she saw stray cats or dogs she would immediately bring them home, she would then pull pranks by putting them in Yui’s room and waiting for her reaction. Specifically, there were seven cats and eight dogs, all of different breeds and sizes. The pets lived anywhere in the house until they can find loving homes elsewhere.

… 

The next day after school, Yui and Evie arrived at the skate park to watch Kyou’s duel. Soon a small crowd gathered, they even recognized some classmates from school. Everyone wore their casual attire. Evie wore a bright pink long-sleeved shirt, a pink skirt, white leggings, brown boots and her necklace. Yui wore a red long-sleeved shirt, a light blue open denim vest, matching denim shorts, black socks that went above her knees, grey and white sneakers and her necklace. Kyou wore a slightly tattered white shirt, an unzipped black and grey hoodie, dark blue pants and black sneakers. The two girls watched with deep focus. However, the duel was not going the way they predicted.

“Gah!” Kyou fell with a grunt as his life points dropped to zero. The holograms of their monsters quickly faded away. 

“Thanks for the duel, now you remember the deal right?” his opponent said. Kyou stayed silent, he then got up and begrudgingly gave his deck of cards to his opponent.

“Huh?! What are you doing?!” Evie exclaimed.

“Closing the deal, you see we both agreed that if I beat him, I would take his cards” The opponent said.

“That’s not what you said yesterday!”

“How would you know? You weren’t even listening to us yesterday”

“Even so! You shouldn’t take that from him” Evie exclaimed.

“What are you going to do then?” the opponent taunted.

“I-I don’t know”

“Oh right, you don’t even know how to play this game” 

Yui glanced at Evie and noticed a hint of sadness in her expression, she also noticed how Kyou was silently looking at the ground. Yui walked up in front of Evie. 

“Duel me then” Yui said.

“Huh?”

“Duel me, and if I win, you have to return Kyou’s deck” Yui stated.

“Duel you? Fine! I’ll take you down just like I did to him” He said.


	2. Fire 2: Blazing Beauties

“To be honest I am surprised, I didn’t think the quiet girl in school had anything in her” Yui’s opponent said. She did not respond. 

“Whatever, let's get on with it” Yui’s opponent said.

Both duelists slipped on small black metal boxes containing their deck of cards on top of their wrists, a black belt like cuff proceeded to come out from one end of the box and clamp to the other end, attaching to their wrists. The word ‘Duel’ appeared on the front-facing part of the box in a digital text. Finally, a holographic screen and playing board appear in front of both duelists, Yui’s being red, and her opponent’s being gray. Images of a rock, a piece of paper and a pair of scissors appeared on the holographic board of each duelist. Yui had picked paper and her opponent had picked scissors. 

**DUEL!**

Yui: 4000

Opponent: 4000

**Turn 1: Opponent**

“My turn” 

“I use the magic card ‘Double Summon’ to summon two level 4 monsters from my hand” 

Two holographic monsters appeared in front of the boy. 

“I overlay these two monsters and build the overlay network. I XYZ Summon! Rank 4 Monster”

A holographic monster appeared with two circling bright orbs. 

_XYZ Monster_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2000_

_Def: 2000_

_OU: 2_

“Try beating that, I set two cards and end my turn”

**Turn 2: Yui**

“Draw” Yui slid a card out of her deck container. 

“I summon Kitsune Vulpine: 3 tails” a baby yellow fox with 3 puffy tails appeared before her.

“Then I activate its effect, I halven its attack points to special summon Kitsune Vulpine: 6 tails” an orange adolescent fox with 6 curled tails appeared next.

“And then I activate 6 tails’s effect, I cut its attack points in half to special summon Kitsune Vulpine: 9 tails” an adult fox with white fur and nine tails appeared next to ‘6 Tails’. 

_Kitsune Vulpine: 3 Tails_

_Level 2_

_Atk: 300 Def: 900_

_Fire_

_Beast_

_Cut it’s attack points in half to summon another Kitsune Vulpine. Reduce attack points to zero to increase its level by 1._

_Kitsune Vulpine: 6 Tails_

_Lvl 2_

_Atk: 600 Def: 900_

_Fire_

_Beast_

_Cut it’s attack points in half to summon another Kitsune Vulpine. Reduce attack points to zero to increase its level by 1._

_Kitsune Vulpine: 9 Tails_

_Lvl 2_

_Atk: 900 Def: 900_

_Fire_

_Beast_

_Cut it’s attack points in half to summon another Kitsune Vulpine. Reduce attack points to zero to increase its level by 1._

“I overlay my three level two Kitsune Vulpines and build the overlay network”

A shining yellow portal appeared in the ground in front of Yui, her three foxes turned into red shining streams of light and entered the portal. 

“I XYZ summon Rank 2. Kumi Gumi!” A small white fox with golden tipped ears, 9 tails and three orbiting glowing spheres appeared before Yui. 

_Kumi Gumi (XYZ Monster)_

_Rank 2_

_Atk: 900 Def: 900_

_Fire_

_Beast_

_OU: 3_

“Then I activate Fox Fire- Red, so my Kumi Gumi gains 500 attack and defense points”

_Kumi Gumi_

_Atk: 900 → 1400_

_Def: 900 → 1400_

“Then I activate Kumi Gumi’s effect, by detaching one overlay unit, Kumi Gumi can attack you directly” 

Kumi Gumi bit into one of the orbiting spheres and ran up to tackle Yui’s opponent. 

Opponent: 4000 → 2600

“I activate Fox Fire Orange, to add one Level 4 monster from my deck to my hand, I set two cards and end my turn”

“I didn’t know Yui could duel” Kyou said surprised.

“Well, you don’t see her duel often, most of the time she’s hiding somewhere watching the duels” Evie explained.

“Hm? Then how did she get so good?” Kyou asked.

“The mayor, not only does he take care of us but he was the one who taught Yui” Evie explained.

“He didn’t teach you?”

“Nah~ I like watching”

**Turn 3: Opponent**

“Heh… not bad” He scoffed.

 **“** My turn, I draw **”**

“‘Fox Fire- Red’s effect activates, Whenever you draw, you lose 100 life points for each card you draw” Yui interrupted.

Opponent: 2600 → 2500

“And next, ‘Fox Fire- Orange’s effect activates, Each turn a Fire or Light type monster is on the field, you lose 200 life points” Yui added.

Opponent: 2500 → 2300

“So that’s your play style huh? I activate my monster’s ability, by detaching one overlay unit, my monster gains 500 attack points, so I'm getting rid of both” 

_XYZ Monster:_

_Atk: 2000 → 3000_

“Next I normal summon a monster from my hand”

_Monster:_

_Atk: 1100_

“Now! Attack Kumi Gumi!” He ordered. The monster then attacked the small fox, crushing it in it’s jaws.

Yui: 4000 → 2400

“Now, direct attack!”

Yui: 2400→ 1300

Yui blocked her face from the blasts. Kyou and Evie were completely immersed. 

“I think you’ve had about enough this turn so I'll end here”

**Turn 4: Yui**

“Draw” Yui said quietly.

“I activate Fox Fire Green, when this card activates I send one card to the graveyard, then we both draw two cards”

Opponent: 2300 → 2100

“When my opponent controls monsters and my field is empty I can special summon Kitsune Girl- Warrior from my hand” 

_Kitsune Girl- Warrior_

_Level 3_

_Atk: 1200 Def: 2000_

_Fire_

_Beast- Warrior_

_You can special summon this card from your hand if your opponent controls a monster and your field is empty. When this card engages in battle it’s attack points go up by 900_

Before her appeared a teenage girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail, wielding a spear and wearing red and white martial arts clothing, she also had small white fox ears and three white tails. 

“Next I normal summon, Kitsune Woman: Wind”

_Kitsune Woman: Wind_

_Lvl 4_

_Atk: 1400 Def: 1300_

_Wind_

_Beast-Warrior_

A woman with green fox ears, 9 white tails, and flowing mint green hair appeared next to ‘Warrior’ she wore a long white kimono and held a small fan. 

“When Kitsune Woman: Wind is normal summoned, I can special summon a level 4 or below monster from my hand, I summon Kitsune Girl- Devil”

_Kitsune Girl: Devil_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1200 Def: 2000_

_Fire_

_Beast-Warrior_

Another raven-haired, spear-wielding teenage girl appeared wearing yellow and black punk clothing, except with black fox ears and three black tails. 

“When ‘Devil’ is special summoned, I can choose one card on your spell and trap zone to remove from play”

‘Devil’ shot a black energy ball at one of the set cards on the opponent’s field. 

“Magic card open! Fire Footprints”

_Fire Footprints_

_Quick- Play Spell_

_Destroy all spell and trap cards on the field_

“My second magic opens! Fire Bubble Shield”

_Fire Bubble Shield_

_Quick- Play_

_If a spell or trap card is activated that causes cards in your spell and trap zone to go to the graveyard, activate this card to protect your spell and trap zone_

The two set cards on Yui’s field flipped over and began to engulf her opponent’s field in flames, burning the last set card on his field, while she and her field were protected by an orange barrier.

“I overlay Level 3 Kitsune Girl- Warrior and Kitsune Girl- Devil. I build the Overlay Network and XYZ summon, Rank 3 Gumiho Magician: Illusionist”

Out of the shining portal appeared a woman holding an orb, she had white hair, ears and tails and wore a red short-skirted kimono. 

_Gumiho Magician: Illusionist (XYZ Monster)_

_Rank 3_

_Atk: 2700 Def: 2900_

_Fire_

_Spellcaster_

“Battle! ‘Warrior’ attacks your normal monster. When Warrior engages in battle her attack points increase by 900” 

_Kitsune Girl: Warrior_

_Atk: 1200 → 2100_

Kitsune girl slammed her spear onto the opponent’s monster, successfully destroying it.

Opponent: 2100 → 1300

“Now I detach one overlay unit from Illusionist to cut your monster’s attack and defense points in half”

_XYZ Monster:_

_3000 → 1500_

“Illusionist attacks your monster” Yui said.

Gumiho Magician released a spiral of flames from her orb, destroying the opponent’s monster. Yui’s opponent blocked his face from the blast. 

Opponent: 1300 → 100

“I end my turn” Yui said as the dust cleared.

**Turn 5: Opponent**

“Ugh! It’s not over yet! I draw!” Yui’s opponent exclaimed.

“And you lose” Yui simply said.

Her opponent gave her a confused look, he then was shocked to see his remaining life points drop to zero. 

**Winner: Yui**

Yui walked up to her opponent after the holograms disappeared. 

“I’ll take Kyou’s deck back” Yui said.

“... You’re good, don’t be cocky ok?” He said disgruntled as he gave the deck of cards to Yui before walking away.

Yui had remained silent until she surprised by a hug from behind by Evie and Kyou.

The two showered Yui with congratulations and compliments as a small smile had crept on her face. 

Later that day, the three walked together on their way home. 

“Hey Yui? Can I ask?” Kyou started to speak

“Yes?” Yui replied.

“How did you beat that guy exactly?”

“I learned from you” Yui answered.

“Huh?”

“When you were dueling him I noticed that he would always use a trap card that destroys monsters with 1500 or more attack points. When I was dueling I made sure not to summon any monsters with attack points above 1500” Yui explained.

“... Oh yeah, that’s right! When he set those two cards during your duel, he never got to activate them” Evie added in.

“Right, I assumed they were both the same trap card, so I focused on getting rid of the set cards first before I XYZ summoned, and then I let burn effects finish him off” Yui finished explaining.

“Wow, you really thought everything out” Kyou said.

“It’s really cool” Kyou added.

“Hm? Really?” Yui asked surprised.

“Of course, you’re very reliable” Kyou answered.

“Hehe” Evie giggled slightly. Kyou waited for Evie to walk further ahead to asked Yui another question.

“Can I ask one more question”

“Hm?”

“Evie said the mayor of Souel City takes care of you two, is he like your parent?” Kyou asked.

“Hm? No, he’s not, you see, Evie and I aren’t blood related” Yui explained.

“What?”

“Ten years ago, Evie found me, after she found me the mayor found us. He let us pick our names from various comic books and manga he had” Yui explained.

“That’s really nice of him” Kyou said in amazement.

“If you don’t mind me asking, where and how did Evie find you?” Kyou asked. There was a long pause before Yui answered.

“I’d rather not talk about that” Yui said.

“Oh, I'm sorry… Well this is where we separate” Kyou said reaching a fork in the road.

“Get home safe Kyou!” Evie said.

“You too” Kyou said.

“Thanks again Yui!” Kyou added before walking away. Yui smiled before waving goodbye.

The two girls continued walking home.


	3. Fire 3: A nauseatingly good encounter

Sitting at her desk next to the classroom window, Yui was reading a book that was assigned in her school’s literature class. She would have been completely immersed in the story if she did not overhear the chatter of her classmates.

“Oh look, it’s Rei, she’s always by herself”

“She doesn’t have many friends does she?”

“I heard she won a duel against an opponent that Sora lost to”

“Rei duels?”

“She sure does! If you don’t, believe me, you can challenge her yourself, just don't tell her I suggested it” a familiar voice added in on the conversation.

“Evie, I can hear you!” Yui exclaimed.

… 

*Bang*. The track team coach shot his pistol in the air. Yui immediately got up from her crouching position and started running. Kyou approached Evie on the track field bleachers. Evie had delved into a conversation asking her friend if he was going to watch Yui’s relay race tonight. However, before Evie could finish her question she caught a whiff of something unpleasant. Evie waved a hand to her nose and immediately asked Kyou about the smell.

“Oh, there was a skunk on my way to school. I got away from it in time but then I fell into a pile of garbage” Kyou explained. Evie started giggling. Kyou pouted, clearly annoyed by Evie’s response. 

“Yeah, real funny” Kyou said sarcastically.

Evie stopped giggling and decided not to tease anymore. She began to engage in conversation on many topics. What the skunk looked like, the animals in her house, Kyou joked about not adopting said skunk. Kyou’s attention had shifted, when he overheard a trio of boys just a few feet away. 

“I'll be back, I’m going to the toilet” Kyou excused himself. 

“Oh ok,” Evie said before Kyou got up and left. 

“Rei… tonight” were the only words he could make out passing the three.

… 

That night, the three boys walked to the outside of the girl’s locker room, one held a box with holes poked into it. 

*Clank* 

The three boys turned around, an empty soda can rolled out of the shadows. Following the can, Kyou had stepped out, he smiled smugly as he asked the boys what they were doing in front of the girls changing room. One of the trios gave a snark response saying that it was any of Kyou’s business.

“Hey, I have an idea, how about we duel right now? The loser runs” Kyou negotiated.

“Fine, should be easy” the leader of the trio replied.

Both boys slipped on their deck boxes, their holographic screens and playing boards appeared. Images of a rock, a piece of paper and a pair of scissors appeared. Kyou picked rock, his opponent picked scissors. 

**DUEL!**

Kyou: 4000

Opponent: 4000

**Turn 1: Kyou**

“I’m going first” 

“I send Habi-Pack: Forest Lambda to the graveyard, to special summon Habi-Pack Arctic Eta and Habi-Pack Forest Eta, however, their effects are negated” 

Two wolves appeared before Kyou, one white and one brown. 

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Eta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1300 Def: 1300_

_Water_

_Beast_

_Habi-Pack: Forest Eta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1300 Def: 1300_

_Earth_

_Beast_

“I summon, Habi-Pack: Arctic Beta” 

A significantly larger white wolf with light blue tinted fur appeared.

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Beta_

_Lvl 4_

_Atk: 1900 Def: 1500_

_Water_

_Beast_

_When this card is summoned you can special summon another Lvl 3 or lower beast type monster in your hand_

“Using Beta’s ability I can special summon a level 3 or lower monster from my hand, I special summon Habi-Pack: Arctic Theta”

Another white wolf appeared. 

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Theta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1400 Def: 1500_

_Water_

_Beast_

_When this card is normal or special summoned you gain 400 life points_

Theta’s effect activates and Kyou’s life points rose to 4400

“I discard Arctic Epsilon from my hand, to change the level of a monster on my field. I change level 3 Arctic Theta to level 4”.

“I overlay my level 3 Arctic Eta and level 3 Forest Eta to build the overlay network, I Xyz summon: Rank 3 Moonlight Omega!” 

A large white wolf with blue eyes and bright blue streaks appeared unleashing a howl.

_Moonlight Omega_

_Rank 3_

_Atk: 2000 Def; 3000_

_Light_

_Beast_

“I overlay level 4 Arctic Theta and level 4 Arctic Beta, to Xyz summon: Rank 4 Moonlight Alpha”

A large black wolf with red eyes and blue markings on its fur appeared with an intimidating glare.

_Moonlight Alpha_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2700 Def; 3000_

_Light_

_Beast_

_Xyz Monster_

“I activate Alpha’s ability! I detach one overlay unit, your turn is skipped. I end my turn and start it again, due to Alpha’s ability I can’t draw or summon monsters this turn. Both Alpha and Omega will attack you directly”

Both wolves ferociously lunged at the opponent, causing him to fall to the ground and yelled in shock.

Opponent: 4000 → 0

**Winner: Kyou**

The holograms for the monsters disappeared leaving the three students in shock. Kyou took a deep breath before speaking.

“Remember what I said? The loser runs” Kyou said calmly as he wore a serious expression.

“Yellow-eyed freak!” one of the boys yelled before running away and dropping the box on the ground. Kyou sighed before picking up the box with poked holes

“What even is this?” Kyou asked himself. Kyou opened the lid of the box, inside was a black furry animal.

“Gah! Skunk!” Kyou scared himself has he accidentally threw the box lid in the air and fell to the ground. This caused the skunk to freak out and jump out of the box. Kyou turned around to see Evie and Yui in her sportswear. 

“AH!” Yui yelped as the skunk scurried and stopped in her vicinity spraying its odor.

That night, Kyou went with Yui and Evie to the Rei residence. Yui locked herself in the bathroom, all of the house pets were huddled away from said bathroom, while Kyou waited in the living room. A few minutes later Evie walked in holding a large plastic bag of tomatoes. She cheered in thinking that she found the solution to Yui’s current odor problem. However, the celebration was short-lived when Yui explained that tomato juice doesn’t actually work on skunk odor.

“Well that’s great” Evie exclaimed with sarcasm. 

“Not only is my allowance gone, but I hate tomatoes!” She added

“I’m sorry Evie” Yui said.

“I’m sorry too Yui” Kyou said.

“Aw~ it's ok, you were only trying to help” Evie comforted Kyou.

“Well I should go, sorry for bothering you two” Kyou said. 

Before Kyou could leave, Evie offered him to stay the night in the guest room.

“I really can’t, There's somewhere I have to go every morning so, I have to wake up early” Kyou explained. From the other side of the bathroom door, Yui offered to wake up earlier than usual to get Kyou out of bed.

“Is that ok with you?” Kyou asked.

“It’s fine with me, I'm cooking tomorrow anyway” Yui said.

Kyou was left speechless, Evie then nudged him, bringing him to the guest room.

“Make yourself comfortable, and don’t stay up too late!” Evie said. Before closing the door Evie reassured Kyou that Yui was not mad at him and told him to have a good night. Kyou thanked the girls once again before Evie closed the door to give him privacy. As Kyou lied on the guest bed, he thought about Yui once more, he thought about the duel he won today, and the duel Yui won the other day. Before drifting to sleep, he thought about a duel in which he and Yui would have one day.


	4. Fire 4: Tag and roughhouse

Early in the morning when the sun hasn’t risen yet, Yui was sound asleep. Until a faint beeping sound had woken her up. She placed her hand on the alarm clock to turn it off. Her eyes fluttered open to the sight of her dimly lit room. There weren’t many things in her room, only items were her bed to sleep in, her desk with a mini laptop, a shelf above her desk to place books and other school items, an armchair that she sat in whenever she read books or arranged her cards, a side table with a lamp and her closet that only held her school uniform and regular outfit since she did not particularly enjoy shopping. Her bedroom had two windows, one on the wall behind her bed and one on the wall behind the armchair. Yui got up from her bed, her sleepwear, consisted of a pink t-shirt and pink shorts. She looked out her window, the sun’s glow was mixing into the sky making it a pink and purple. She could see the open fields and a part of Souel, being that her home was on the outskirts of the city. She looked at the clock on her side table. 4 am. Yui exited the room, as soon as her door opened she was greeted with the sight of small fluffy bodies still asleep on the floor. Yui maneuvered around the pets making sure not to step on them. She grabbed the large bag of food placed in the open kitchen. The sound of the plastic bag had caused the animals to wake up. They did not run to their caregiver as usual due to the still lingering stench on her body. Yui reminded herself to bathe before going to school. She filled the bowls with food, and the pets ran to eat after their “smelly” caretaker was a safe distance away. Yui returned to the open kitchen, she put on an apron and took out ingredients from the refrigerator. 

… 

After a couple of minutes of cooking, Yui set up the table with plates of egg sandwiches and slices of tomatoes, She did not put any tomatoes on Evie’s plate, knowing her dislike to the fruit. Yui decided it was time to wake up Kyou. Yui walked to the door of the guest bedroom but abruptly stopped just before her hand had touched the doorknob. She started feeling embarrassed and tried thinking of another way to wake up Kyou. Yui glanced at one of the dogs. There was a brief pause before the girl began chasing it. Yui had managed to take one of the small dogs into her arms, she struggled to maintain a hold on it as it was struggling to get out of her arms. Yui walked to the guest bedroom, she opened the door and released the puppy into the room. She peeked inside once she heard an “oof” from the boy. 

“Hm?... ” Kyou groaned as he groggily lifted his head and looked at the puppy on his stomach.

“Your breakfast is ready” Yui said in almost a whisper. Kyou got up from the bed and followed the girl to the table. 

“Thank you, Yui” Kyou sleepily said as he bit into the sandwich. 

“Mm” Yui nodded before taking a bite into her food. The two ate in silence. After a while Kyou began to feel the awkward atmosphere, he finished his food in a hurry.

“Thank you for the food! I’ll be going now- Oh wait deck” Kyou rushed back to the guest room to grab his deck box.

“Here! Take this too” Yui handed Kyou a boxed lunch. 

“Thanks! See you in school! ” Kyou took the lunchbox and rushed out the door. There was silence, Yui stood there almost frozen. A puppy had jumped onto the table and snatched Evie’s sandwich. With a dejected sigh, Yui walked to the kitchen to make a new one.

… 

Literature class was in session, The teacher was reading aloud while the students were at their desks following along in their books. In this class, Yui, Evie and Kyou sat together in the same row. Yui’s table was by the window, at the edge of the classroom, Evie’s table was next to her and Kyou’s table was next to Evie’s. Yui was following along with the text until she felt something brush against her hand. Yui looked away from her book to see a small folded piece of paper with a written note.

_ To Yui- _

_ Can I ask you something? _

_ From Kyou _

Yui turned the paper over to write her own note.

_ To Kyou- _

_ We’re in class, ask the teacher _

_ From Yui _

She quietly handed the note to Evie to give to Kyou before returning to her book. A minute had passed and a familiar sensation was felt once again. Yui looked away from her book to find another note. 

_ To Yui- _

_ This isn’t a class question, have you ever thought about you and I dueling? _

_ From Kyou _

Yui started to become annoyed. Why was Kyou pestering her about dueling? She decided to return the note with a single word,  _ No _ . Another minute passes and once again Yui finds another note. 

_ To Yui- _

_ What are you two talking about? _

_ From Evie _

“Rei, please pay attention” the teacher said. Yui turned red. She quickly hid her face with the book.

… 

The next class was Phys. Ed. The coach was called students for attendance but was confused when he noticed Yui’s absence. Evie explained that the latter was not feeling well so she didn’t come to school today. But in reality, Yui was hiding under the bleachers. She didn’t want to take any chances of being around people, since she still had skunk stench in her gym clothes. Despite feeling safe under the wooden stands Yui couldn’t help but feel nervous being surrounded by darkness. Yui quietly sighed, as the class went on with their activities. She brought her legs close to her chest

“Psst! Yui” a hushed voice called out. Yui turned her head to the direction of the voice only for her eyes to meet a pair of glowing gold orbs.

“Aahh!” Yui yelped, the shock made her jolt and scurry out from under the bleachers. Yui got up from her hands and knees. She avoided the gaze of the only person she knew who had golden eyes.

“Oh, Rei! You decided to come to school?” The coach called to the girl. Yui had become speechless, her face red with embarrassment, the bleachers that she hid under were by the entrance to the gym so she appeared to have rushed to class. 

“Your face is quite red, don’t push yourself too hard ok?” the coach instructed.

“Y-yes sir” Yui quietly stuttered. Yui reluctantly walked to the activity.

… 

Lunch period had arrived. Yui was once again sitting alone. She had ordered a random sandwich from the cafeteria since she had forgotten to make lunch for herself that morning. Yui sat down at an empty table and sank her teeth into the sandwich.

“Hey Yui” 

“Mm!” She was interrupted before she could even take a bite. Yui fell back in surprised but was caught before she could land on the floor. She looked, the person who had caught her was Kyou himself. Yui noticed that her sandwich had slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground. Once again Yui let out yet another sigh. She straightened herself and stood up from the bench to face the boy.

“Kyou? What do you want?” Yui asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Didn’t you get my notes in class?” Kyou eagerly asked. 

“I am not going to duel you Kyou!” Yui said assertively, as she was trying not to cause a scene in the cafeteria.

“But why not?”

“Because I don’t want to”

Yui quickly realized the mistake in her answer. At that moment Kyou would use the only technique that he knew after being refused. Taunting.

“Why? Are you scared that I might beat you?” Kyou asked. There was a slight pause, Yui turned away from the boy and mumbled something under her breath. Another pause.

“What was that?” Kyou asked in confusion. Yui mumbled louder, though her words were still inaudible. 

“Sorry Yui, I can’t hear you” Kyou asked again. Yui took a deep breath before turning back towards the boy.

“I said, I don’t want you to be angry at me when I win” Yui answered, deciding to taunt back.

“Not going to happen! Because I'm not going to lose!” Kyou responded.

“If I duel you, will you stop surprising me?”

“Yep!”

“Ok fine, after school, my place, but make sure you finish homework first”

“You’re on!”

The two stormed off in separate directions. 

… 

After school, at the Rei residence.

“Ready?” Kyou asked.

“Ready” Yui answered.

“Good luck!” Evie cheered.

Both of their deck boxes clamped onto their arm, the word ‘duel’ appeared in digital text. Their holographic screens and playing boards appeared before them.

**DUEL!**

Yui: 4000

Kyou: 4000

Yui: Rock

Kyou: Paper

**Turn 1: Kyou:**

“My turn!” 

“I summon Habi-Pack: Forest Beta!”

A brown wolf appeared before Kyou.

_ Habi-Pack: Forest Beta _

_ Lvl 4 _

_ Atk: 1900 Def: 1500 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

_ When this card is summoned you can special summon another Lvl 3 or lower beast type monster in your deck _

“It’s effect activates, I special summon Habi-pack: Forest Eta”

_ Habi-Pack: Forest Theta _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1300 Def: 1300 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

“From my hand, I send Arctic Epsilon from my hand to the graveyard, Forest Eta changes to level 4”

_ Habi-Pack: Forest Eta _

_ Lvl 3 → 4 _

“I overlay Level 4 Forest Eta and Beta and build the overlay network”

The two wolves turned into streams of light as they entered the large swirling portal in the ground.

“Xyz Summon! Rank 4 Forest Alpha!”

A large wolf with bright green eyes appeared. 

_ Forest Alpha _

_ Rank 4 _

_ Atk: 2500 Def: 2700 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

_ XYZ Monster _

“Turn End”

**Turn 2: Yui:**

“My turn! Draw!”

“Kitsune Girl- Warrior’s effect activates! I can special summon her from my hand when my field is empty”

_ Kitsune Girl- Warrior _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1200 Def: 2000 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast- Warrior _

_ You can special summon this card from your hand if your field is empty. When this card engages in battle it’s attack points go up by 900 _

“I summon Kitsune Woman- Wind”

_ Kitsune Woman- Wind _

_ Lvl 4 _

_ Atk: 1400 Def: 1300 _

_ Wind _

_ Beast- Warrior _

_ When this card is Normal Summoned you can special summon a Level 4 or below monster from your hand or Deck _

“Wind’s effect activates, I special summon Kitsune Woman- Fire”

A woman with Orange fox ears, 9 white tails, red hair and a long red kimono appeared.

_ Kitsuné Woman- Fire _

_ Lvl 4 _

_ Atk: 1500 Def: 1400 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast- Warrior _

_ When this card is special summoned you can special summon another ‘Kitsune Woman’ from deck with 0 attack points. _

“Fire’s effect activates, I can summon another Kitsune from my deck, I summon Kitsune Woman- Light”

A woman with yellow fox ears, tails, short blonde hair, and a short-skirted yellow kimono appeared before Yui.

_ Kitsuné Woman: Light _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1000 Def: 1400 _

_ Light _

_ Beast- Warrior _

_ Once per turn, you can target a monster and change their level _

“Light’s effect activates, I can change one monster on my field's level, I change ‘Kitsune Girl- Warrior’ from level 3 to level 4”

_ Kitsune Girl- Warrior _

_ Lvl 3 → 4 _

“I overlay level 4 Kitsune Girl- Warrior and level 4 Kitsune Woman- Wind, I build the overlay network with these two monsters and Xyz Summon!”

“Appear! Rank 4! Gumiho Shakti: Fox!”

A woman with black and white hair, fox ears and tails emerged from the portal, she wore a long white and black kimono with red ribbons and a large golden spear. 

_ Gumiho Shakti: Fox _

_ Rank 4 _

_ Atk: 2500 Def: 2000 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast Warrior _

_ Xyz Monster _

_ 2 Level 4 monsters. _

_ Detach one overlay unit to negate your opponent’s monster effects _

“I’m not done! I build the overlay network again and overlay level 4 Kitsune Woman- Wind and Kitsune Woman- Light”

“Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gumiho Apsara: Tiger!”

Another woman emerged from the portal. She had black hair, and white tails but no fox ears, she wore an elegant white and gold dress with heels and was holding a slender white spear.

_ Gumiho Apsara: Tiger _

_ Rank 4 _

_ Atk: 2500 Def: 2000 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast Warrior _

_ 2 Level 4 Monsters. _

_ Detach one overlay unit to Negate an attack and damage _

“I end my turn”

******  
**


	5. Fire 5: The play escalates

**Kyou:**

_Forest Alpha_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2500 Def: 2700_

_Earth_

_Beast_

_XYZ Monster_

_Once per turn you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, and target one monster to lower their attack points to zero_

_OU: 2_

**Yui:**

_Gumiho Shakti: Fox_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2500 Def: 2000_

_Fire_

_Beast Warrior_

_Xyz Monster_

_2 Level 4 monsters._

_Detach one overlay unit to negate your opponent’s monster effects_

_OU: 2_

_Gumiho Apsara: Tiger_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2500 Def: 2000_

_Fire_

_Beast Warrior_

_2 Level 4 Monsters._

_Detach one overlay unit to Negate an attack_

_OU: 2_

“Two Xyz monsters? Nice. But that won’t scare me!” Kyou said.

**Turn 3: Kyou**

“Draw!”

“I send Habi-Pack Arctic Lambda to the graveyard, to special summon Habi-Pack Arctic Eta’s and Habi-Pack Forest Eta”

_Arctic Eta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1300 Def: 1000_

_Water_

_Beast_

_Forest Eta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1300 Def: 1000_

_Earth_

_Beast_

“I overlay my two level 3 Eta’s” 

“I Xyz Summon! Rank 3! Forest Omega!”

_Forest Omega_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 2200 Def: 2700_

_Earth_

_Beast_

_You can_ _detach_ _1 Xyz Material from this card, target one monster on the opponent's field you can either send one overlay unit from an Xyz Monster on opponent’s field or change the attacking monster’s target to this card and receive half the damage_

_OU:2_

“Alpha’s effect activates! By detaching one overlay unit I can target one monster on your field and change its attack and defense power to zero”

Forest Alpha bit into one of its orange orbiting lights and released a howl

“Gumiho Apsara’s attack points drop to zero”

_Gumiho Apsara: Tiger_

_2500 → 0_

_2000 → 0_

“Forest Alpha attacks Apsara!” 

The large brown wolf charged towards Yui’s monster.

“I activate Apsara’s ability. I detach one overlay unit to stop the attack and negate damage” Yui announced.

Apsara rapidly spun its spear, creating a shield to block Alpha.

“In that case, I activate Omega’s effect I detach one overlay unit to send Apsara’s last overlay unit to the graveyard”

Omega lunged towards Apsara, biting the orbiting red ball of light and sending it into a black and purple portal into the ground.

“Omega attacks now!”

“Shakti’s effect activates! By detaching one overlay unit, I can negate, Omega’s effect” Yui said.

The dark portal opened up again on the ground returning the red orb of light to Apsara. Yui then activates Apsara’s effect again, and successfully blocks Omega’s attack. 

“But Apsara’s defenseless now. I set one card, my turn ends” Kyou said.

**Turn 4: Yui**

Kyou gleamed with delight knowing that he didn’t take any burn damage. He looked closely at Yui’s expression as she drew her card and noticed a small smirk appeared on her face.

“Magic card: Fox Fire- Green. I send one card from my hand to the graveyard and we both draw two cards” She looked at the cards she has drawn.

“Continuous Spell. Fox Fire Red. Now all my monsters gain 500 attack and defense points”

_Gumiho Shakti: Fox_

_Atk: 3000 Def: 2500_

_OU: 1_

_Gumiho Apsara: Tiger_

_Atk: 500 Def: 0_

_OU: 0_

“I activate another continuous Spell, Fox Fire Orange, I can add a Level 4 or below monster from my deck to my hand. I set one card… Gumiho Shakti attacks Alpha”

“Trap card! Delta Weapon! I equip it to Omega” Kyou announced.

_Forest Omega: 2200→ 2900_

“Next I activate Omega’s other ability! I detach one overlay unit to switch Shakti’s target to Omega, and receive only half damage” 

Shakti forced her spear down onto Omega.

_Kyou: 4000 → 3950_

“Turn End” Yui said.

**Turn 5: Kyou:**

“My turn Draw!”

_Kyou: 3950 → 3650_

“I summon Habi-Pack: Forest Eta”

_Forest Eta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1300 Def: 1300_

_Earth_

_Beast_

“I activate a spell, Delta’s Message, So I can draw two cards.”

_Kyou: 3650 → 3450_

“I activate another spell, Gamma Knowledge. Now, my monsters are not affected by traps or monster effects this turn”

“I detach one Overlay Unit from Alpha, to reduce Shakti’s Attack points to zero”

_Gumiho Shakti: Fox_

_3000 → 0_

“And now!” Kyou starts talking excitedly. 

“Ritual Spell! Admiration!” Kyou held up a green card with a large red heart as the art and placed it on the holographic board. 

“Pretty cool right? This card only requires me to tribute one monster for the ritual summon”

“I tribute level 3 Habi-Pack: Forest Eta” 

A bright warm glow emits from the card as it floats towards Eta enveloping the wolf in light.

“Ritual Summon! May the fire in your heart create a warmer world for you! Appear!” 

“Repair World Card: Kindness!” 

_Repair World Card: Kindness_

_Lvl 1_

_Atk: 2500 Def: 2000_

_Light_

_???_

_Ritual Monster_

_All Monsters on the field (Both players fields) gain 1000 attack and defense points. This card cannot attack on the turn it is summoned._

Kindness, a monster with a large red heart at the bottom, a slender red tree trunk-like body and a large butterfly as a head. Black ribbon like arms, where one carries a long stick. At the end of the stick is a heart-shaped lantern with a single candle residing inside. Yui looks at the monster with wonder. This was the first time she had seen Kyou use this monster. 

“Kindness’s effect activates, all monsters gain 1000 attack and defense points”

_Kindness_

_2500 → 3500_

_2000 → 3000_

_Forest Alpha_

_2500 → 3500_

_2700 → 3700_

“Alpha attacks Shakti” 

Yui shielded her face from the blast was thrown back with a yelp.

_Yui: 4000 → 300_

“Turn end” Kyou said. 

**Turn 6: Yui**

_You can’t win_

Yui’s eyes widened in surprise. She looked at her surroundings as she got up from the ground. The voice was feminine, but it wasn’t Evie’s, it sounded more mature. Yui’s attention was brought to her deck box, the top card had a menacing dark glow. Yui drew the card. It was a monster card. The art showed a beautiful woman with flowing black hair that fell to her waist and covered one of her pink colored eyes and an elegant black dress. The woman had the body of a human but her arms and legs were replaced by a black wings and birds talons. The name of the card read ‘Destruction World Card: Loss’.

_Only I can kill that one _

Yui heard the voice again, she looked at her hand. The cards she was holding started to glow and change. One of the cards turned into a monster card and the other turned into a ritual spell. The spell card showed art of a gray sky with a flock of blackbirds. The name of the card read ‘Dark Flock’. 

_Summon me. I’ll show you something wonderful_

Yui was hesitant on listening to the voice. But she was wondered what would happen. In the end, she let curiosity get the better of her. She put Loss in her hand of cards. She summoned one of the Kitsune monsters to her field. 

  
“Ok” Yui said softly. 

“Ritual Spell! Dark Flock!” Yui placed the spell card on the holographic board, for a second she thought her vision had flashed bright red. The card emitted a red light before a small black raven flew out from the light. The crow flew straight into fox tailed woman’s back on her field. Yui wasn’t sure what she was seeing, she looked at her monster and saw it lunge in pain. She heard a scream. She suddenly knew the words to the ritual chant.

“Arise! Grief and sadness!” Yui placed the ritual monster on her board.

“Destruction World Card: Loss!” 

The woman on the card appeared on the field. 

_Destruction World Card: Loss_

_Lvl 1_

_Atk: 2700 Def: 2000_

_Dark_

_???_

_Ritual Monster_

_Once this card is summoned target one monster on the field, hand or graveyard, and take the effect of that targeted monster_

“What?” Kyou said in surprise.

“Woah… ” Evie awe in amazement. Evie was so immersed in the duel that she could not hear the muffled growls and hisses from the animals inside the house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2020! We hope that you continue and enjoy going on Yui's journey as well as sticking around for more stories yet to come. Happy New Year!


	6. Fire 6: Something in the air

**Yui: 300**

_ Destruction World Card: Loss _

_ Lvl 1 _

_ Atk: 2700 Def: 2000 _

_ Dark _

_ Winged Beast _

_ Ritual Monster _

**Kyou: 3450**

_ Forest Alpha _

_ Rank 4 _

_ Atk: 3500 Def: 3700 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

_ XYZ Monster _

_ Repair World Card: Kindness _

_ Lvl 1 _

_ Atk: 3500 Def: 3000 _

_ Light _

_ Insect _

_ Ritual Monster _

**Turn 6: Yui**

“Loss’s effect activates! I can take the effect of any monster on the field. I choose Alpha’s effect, and I use that effect to change Kindness’s attack and defense to zero”

_ Repair World Card: Kindness _

_ Atk: 3500 → 0 _

_ Def: 3000 → 0 _

“Loss attacks Kindness!” Yui said. The monster card changed to a bird’s body, completing the large winged beast, as it lunged towards Kyou’s monster. 

“That won’t be enough to defeat me” Kyou said confidently.

“Check again Kyou” Yui said.

“Hm?”

_ Destruction World Card: Loss _

_ Atk: 3700 _

“Wait what!?”

“Kindness’s effect applies to all monsters on the field, both yours and mine” Yui explains

Loss’s attack lands, shattering Kindness into pieces. 

Kyou yelled as he was thrown back by the blast.

Kyou: 3450 → 0

**Winner: Yui**

The smoke clears, from it Kyou fell on his back after being hit by the blast. Yui noticed the scene and took a minute before fully understanding what had happened.

“Huh?... Kyou!” Yui ran up to the boy offering her hand. Kyou took her hand and got up from the ground

“That was awesome!” He exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“Yui!” Evie ran to the two and called out.

“You won! That was really fun! I didn’t know you had that card, that was the first time I saw it” Evie cheered.

“Well actually-” Yui stopped mid-sentence her mind felt fuzzy. This card had just appeared today but she felt like she had it her entire life.

“Well, what am I saying! You probably always had that card right? Like a secret weapon” Evie said. 

“Um, right” Yui answered. 

“And same as you, right Kyou?” Yui asked.

“Right! Sorry for making fun of you Yui, but I did almost beat you” Kyou said.

“Yeah, You’re pretty strong” Yui replied. The three laughed together.

“Alright! It’s settled then, We’re rivals now, Yui” Kyou said.

“Hm…” Yui thought for a minute, before accepting and shaking Kyou’s hand.

“Aw~” Evie cooed.

“Hm? What’s up?” Kyou asked.

“It’s nothing~ Let’s all eat together!” Evie grabbed both their hands and dragged them to the front door of the house. 

“Yui, can you make-” Evie stopped mid-sentence once she opened the door. The three looked into the house. They immediately gawked in surprise when they saw the absolute mess the pets have made. The house didn’t have a lot of furniture, so the first thing they saw was the sofa with scratch marks and a large rip in one of its cushions as well as potted plants on the ground with their spilled soil. 

“What the heck!” Evie exclaimed as she began scolding the pets. Kyou decided to help by straightening plant pots and returning their spilled soil. Yui looked around to see where she could start cleaning. Yui bent down to pet one of the many cats, but before her hand could make contact with its fur, the cat yowled and ran away, leaving Yui confused.

… 

The weekend had passed. In the time, Yui, Kyou and Evie began spending more time together. Yui and Kyou were sitting together eating lunch before an excited Evie ran up to the two holding a colorful flyer. 

“Yui! Kyou! Look at this!” Evie held the paper to their faces.

“Souel City Duel Monsters Tournament?” Yui read aloud.

“You two should compete” Evie said.

“Of course! What about you Yui?” Kyou asked. 

“No thanks” Yui said.

“But why?” Evie asked.

“I don’t want to duel competitively” Yui explained.

“Ok, then just do it for fun, you don’t have to win” Evie said with glee. Yui turned away while pondering about her decision.

“Please~ The mayor would be very happy to see you competing” Evie pleaded.

Yui quietly sighed, she turned back to Evie and saw that she had puppy dog eyes. Yui directed her attention to Kyou, the boy noticed the girl was about to talk so he focused his attention back onto her.

“I will see you in the finals?” Yui said timidly. Kyou was surprised, but also happy. He was happy that Yui was becoming less shy and hesitant towards him. Kyou quickly cleared his mind before answering back.

“Of course! If you’re competing that is!” He exclaimed.

“Ok, I’ll join” Yui said.

“Alright!” Evie and Kyou cheered. 

“We can register after school, and I’ll introduce the mayor to you Kyou” Yui said. She heard a faint giggle and turned to Evie.

“Aw~ well aren’t you two just a cute couple” Evie cooed. Both Yui and Kyou remained silent for a minute, they looked at each other and blinked twice out of confusion before realizing Evie’s words. 

“HUH?!” Kyou and Yui exclaimed at the same time jumping out from their seats.

“Couple?! No! We’re rivals!” Kyou exclaimed as his face turned slightly red.

“Really? The way you were taking care of each other, it looked like you were dating” Evie teased.

“D-don’t assume something like that! B-besides we’re not old enough to ‘date’ people” Yui retorted.

“Yeah, it’s an adult thing” Kyou muttered.

“So you want to date?” Evie went up to Kyou’s face and asked. 

“Evie, if you don’t drop this topic, I’m going to make nothing but tomato salad from now on!” Yui said in a surprisingly firm voice. 

“Ah! No! I’ll stop” Evie said with some panic in her voice. Yui crossed her arms and returned to avoiding eye contact as Kyou quietly sighed in relief.

… 

The three headed towards Souel tower. Evie skated around on her roller-blades, while Yui carried her skateboard and walked together with Kyou, since he did not own a set of wheels. The two walked in silence as Evie began to twirl and spin. Suddenly, Yui with a slightly startled expression began running to Evie and grasped her hand right before she was about to fall. Evie chuckled before continuing to stride towards the tower.

“This sometimes happens” Yui simply explained to Kyou before continuing on. Eventually they came to the tower. It was a large cylindrical building with an antenna on top. The front door was an elevator that would lead the rider directly to the room they wanted to go. Evie went up to the front door intercom and pressed the button with a green telephone image, a feminine robotic voice started to speak. 

“You have reached Souel Tower. Use the keypad above for the following options. If you are a visitor, press one, If you are looking for employment press two, If you wish to see the mayor press zero”. Evie pushed the zero button on the keypad. The voice began to speak again. 

“You have chosen to meet with the mayor, Please state your full name after the beep” *Beep*

“Evie Rei” *Beep*

“You are not registered for an appointment, To make an appointment, press 1” The voice said. Evie was confused before following the direction from the machine. 

*Beep*

“Thank you for making an appointment, Your appointment is in… 3 months”

“What!?” Evie exclaimed in shock and anger.

“If you like to cancel your appointment, press star”

*Beep*

“Thank you for visiting Souel tower, goodbye” *Beep*

Evie was confused and glaring at the keypad. Yui gestured Evie to stand aside, then proceeded to press a series of buttons. The door to the elevator opened.

“Oh yeah… I forgot about that” Evie said with an awkward giggle. The three entered the elevator. They watched out the window as the compartment took them higher and higher to the point where they can see the whole city. The elevator dinged when they reached the top floor and the steel doors behind them opened. The three were greeted by a large round office with a black floor, blue wallpaper and enormous windows that reached from the ceiling to the floor. On the left was a red lounge chair with a small white pillow. On the right were a long row of file cabinets. In the center of the room was a long table and a large swivel chair with its back turned to them. The swivel chair turned around to reveal a middle aged man. He had brown hair with streaks of grey, brown eyes, rectangular glasses, and wore a blue bow tie with his grey blue suit.

“Girls! So nice to see you!” The man had a large smile on his face as he got up from his chair to embrace Evie and Yui in a tight hug. After the embrace, the family briefly caught up. Evie explained that Yui and Kyou wanted to register for the tournament. The mayor was a rather ecstatic man, he would raise his voice happily at the end of each sentence after hearing Evie’s statement. He embraced Yui in another tight hug and announced how proud of her he was. He then grabbed Kyou’s hand to shake, asking the boy his name and what his relation was to the girls. The mayor pulled out a clipboard with paper and a pen. The sheets of paper had names along with dates. The event lasted four days and started the next day. The prize was to be kept a secret. After the two signed their names, they gave their thanks to the mayor and bid farewell for the night.

… 

“See you tomorrow Kyou” Evie said as the two girls waved. Yui opened the door to their home. Evie immediately sat down on the poorly sewn couch. The girls decided to dispose of the potted plants from the house to avoid another mess.

“Maybe I should learn how to play Duel Monsters” Evie wondered with a sigh.

“I can teach you if you want” Yui offered.

“Really? Great!” Evie said with excitement, but then soon realized

“Oh, wait, I don’t have any allowance left to buy cards… but it’s alright, I have fun by watching”. Yui thought for a moment about what Evie had said. She put away her skateboard and reached into her pocket to take out her deck of cards. Going through each one, Yui took out one card and handed it to Evie. 

“Here, you can have this one” Yui said. Evie looked at the card in Yui’s hand. It was a monster card, the monster was a fireball with eyes. The name of the card read ‘Fire Kuri-ball’.

“Really? You want me to have it?” Evie asked.

“Yes, when you get more money, you can buy more cards, they’re not cheap” Yui explained. Evie took the card from Yui.

“It’s cute” Evie said with a smile. Yui sat down next to Evie and reached for one of the pets to play with. However before Yui can pick up one of the puppies, it immediately ran away. Yui’s face scrunched up in concern, she smelled her hand to see if there was still a skunk smell on her skin. Nothing.

… 

In a place covered in darkness and smoke was a single black-cloaked figure. A shroud of red fog rolled in. As the fog accumulated, a woman walked into view. She had flowing black hair, and bangs that covered one eye, she wore a black dress with long black gloves and black high heeled shoes.

“Have you found her?” The cloaked figure asked.

“Yes” The woman answered back. 

“Good” The cloaked figure said. The woman nodded in response before walking away and disappearing back into the darkness. 


	7. Fire 7: Wishes

The sensation of floating, a pair of sapphire eyes open. Yui slowly checked her surroundings. There was nothing but darkness, except her body seemed to illuminate. Suddenly there was a noise, a bird’s caw. Yui looked up, she saw the moon, or what she assumed was the moon. She also saw a single bird circling said moon. 

“Hey” a feminine whisper echoed in the air. Yui returned her gaze to the front to see a woman with flowing black hair and pink irises. 

“Yui”

Yui opened her eyes once again, she’s in her room, tucked under a blanket on her bed. She turned her head to the sound of her name being called and sees Evie at her bedside.

“Let’s go somewhere” Evie says with a smile. Yui wanted to go back to sleep and so she pulled her blanket over her head.

“Yui” Evie whines as she gently pushes Yui’s body. The latter reluctantly got up and rubbed her eyes.

… 

The sun slowly rose above Souel city painting the sky hues of orange and pink. In the outskirts of the city, there was an abandoned church. In front of the church dug into the ground was a large circular fountain. The fountain no longer spouted water and was stained with dark green moss. The water was still and murky, but there were coins that can be seen at the bottom. In the quiet city, Evie had woken up Yui and led her to the outskirts of the city. The two girls were accompanied by their many pets, Yui was still half asleep, she was confused about why Evie had woken her up so early, and where they were going.

“We’re here!” Evie announced. Yui looked up at the large wooden building, it had a large rusted bell and was almost completely covered with moss. The front doors were closed and the wooden stairway was missing a step. Evie walked towards the fountain and looked into the murky water. 

“I heard from a classmate that this fountain is magic and can make your wishes come true” Evie stated.

“Are you going to make a wish?” Yui asked.

“Yes! I wanted to see if it was true” Evie explained.

“What are you going to wish for?” Yui asked, handing her a coin from her pocket.

“If I tell you it might not come true” Evie stated. Yui did not believed in such rumors, the only magic and monsters she has ever seen were when she played her cards. 

… 

After school, Yui, Kyou and Evie, along with many teenagers gathered at the skatepark. There, the mayor wore a flashy tux with sequins and a bow tie. Evie was trying her best not to laugh. He stood on one of the ramps explaining the rules of the tournament. The crowd cheered as the mayor shouted his last statement to have fun. There were a total of 128 contestants and the tournament was held for four days, Today was the first and second round. Kyou was hidden in the crowds. With the boy nowhere in sight, Yui focused on her opponents, paying attention to their strategies and finding the best way to deal damage. She easily won against her opponents in the first and second rounds. Throughout the duels, Yui learned of a new summoning method, one that required a specific spell card and two or more specific monsters. The monsters would combine to create a violet-colored card. When the day had ended Yui checked the bracket board. She was happy to know that Kyou had advanced to the third and fourth rounds.

… 

Later that evening, Evie and Yui had returned home, they were surprised to see their caretaker playing with the many pets. Due to his work the mayor practically lived in his office, on rare occasions he would come home late in the night and fall asleep on the sofa. He decided that Yui should learn how to cook more food. The dish that night was fried rice. The mayor showed Yui the various steps. Measuring the amount of water to cook the rice, mixing raw eggs, cutting various vegetables and ham, then frying it together in the wok. 

“Is it ok?” The mayor asked before turning on the electric cooktop. It took Yui a minute to realize what he was asking, she nodded her head yes. The stove turned on and Yui began stirring the rice. A few minutes passed and Yui set the plates with food. The three sat together at the table, and the two girls paid close attention as the mayor told stories of his previous action-filled profession when he was a firefighter. While in the middle of talking he was interrupted by the beeping of his watch. The mayor apologized for having to leave for he still had work to finish. After the two girls bid farewell, they cleaned up and headed to their rooms. 

… 

“Hey” a voice calls out snapping Yui out of focus. She looked up from her laptop. Her head turns to her bedroom door. There were no knocks, she got up from her desk and walked to the door, just before she placed her hand on the doorknob the same voice calls out again.

“Not there” it said. Yui flinched from surprise and was starting to become nervous. There were three places she could check, all which were horrible. Under the bed, in her closet or out her window. A dark glow emitted from her desk drawer. Yui walked up to it, she slid open the drawer to find her cards. A sense of familiarity came over her when she noticed the top card was menacingly glowing. Yui took the top card in her hand. It was the mysterious ritual monster, “Destruction World Card: Loss”. The card glowed and morphed into a single long dark feather. Yui was surprised and dropped the feather on the floor. Once the feather had floated down to the ground, it began to spin. The feather began to multiply until there was a spinning cyclone of feathers in the middle of Yui’s room, the girl blocked her face from the storm. Once the cyclone had subsided, from the feathers appeared a woman. She was tall, over six feet by estimate. She was wearing the same elegant black dress, her hair covered one of her pink eyes except her arms and legs were not that of birds, instead, she wore long black gloves and high heeled shoes along with a deadpan expression on her face. There was a long pause, Yui stared wide-eyed at the woman before her, she felt her heart race. Yui’s mouth began to tremble as it slowly opened. Before she could make any sound the woman put a finger to the girl’s lips. 

“No screaming” The woman said quietly. Yui didn’t realize how close the woman actually was.

“I won’t hurt you, you can stay calm, understand?” The woman asked. Yui nodded still wide-eyed. The woman took her hand away from Yui’s mouth. 

“W-who? What?” questions filled Yui’s mind as she stuttered whatever words she could make. 

“You should already know who I am, what I am doesn’t matter” The woman responded impassively. Yui took a deep breath before gathering the courage to speak.

“Loss? Is that your name?” Yui asked.

“Good, you know” Loss responded impassively again. Another pause, the last thing Yui wanted to do was anger whoever, whatever was in front of her, she didn’t say anything. The silent pause began to lengthen.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Loss spoke up in a questioning tone. Yui took a deep breath before answering.

“What do you want me to s-?” 

“What animal are you?” Loss asked bluntly, interrupting Yui in the process. 

“... Huh?” Yui took a minute before expressing her confusion.

“Tell me what animal you are” Loss responded.

“I’m not an animal, I’m a person, a human” Yui answered. 

“Is that so?” Loss asked. Loss lowered her head down to Yui’s cheek and whispered into the girl’s ear.

“You are wrong”


	8. Fire 8: Sparks

Dull sapphire eyes stared into the open book, The words were meaningless since the reader wasn’t paying attention. Yui’s mind was blank, due to being overwhelmed. Last night after whispering those words, Loss had disappeared as if the woman were a mirage. Yui wasn’t able to get much sleep that night either, she had been haunted all morning by an old nightmare. The memory of that night was still so fresh and vivid. The words of that conversation she had with Loss that night kept echoing in her mind. As Yui stared more and more into the book the pages had changed color, as if they were tinting orange, the words became inkier almost as if Yui’s stare was burning holes into her book. Quickly realising her eyes were playing tricks on her, she squeezed them shut and gently rubbed her eyelids with her hand. Her eyes had regained their shine as she attempted to catch up with the lesson. 

… 

Kyou looked up from his book, he wasn’t too immersed in the story. Kyou slightly turned his head, he saw Evie following along in the book. Kyou leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk and resting his cheek on the back of his hand. The action made him look like he was relaxing as he was reading, when really he shifted his eyes as he tried to get a glance at Yui. The boy noticed the girl’s expression, she appeared sad, her eyes weren’t following the words, then she used her hand to rub her eyes. Staying slouched on his chair, Kyou returned his glance to his book, catching another look at Evie in the process. As the embarrassing memory of Evie’s teasing came back Kyou’s thoughts began to scramble. He wanted to tell Yui about the new summoning technique he learned, though most likely she already knew about it. He wanted to congratulate Yui about advancing in the tournament, as well as boast about himself advancing. He wanted to know why he was thinking about Yui so much. All this thinking led to Kyou sitting back up and letting his face fall into the pages of the book.

… 

Once school had ended that day, the trio headed to the skatepark for the third and fourth rounds. Throughout the duels that Yui and Kyou have played, the two duelists had learned of another summoning method. This method required a specific monster card and another non specific monster. The method focused on adding together the levels of the monster cards. The specific monster card would burst into green balls of light that are relative to its level. Said balls of light would then expand into rings. The non specific monsters would then fly into the rings, which revealed their lights. The combined lights formed a beam that passed through the rings and thus making the appearance of a bright white monster card. Once the rounds had ended there were eight contestants left, including Yui and Kyou. The mayor congratulated the contestants and announced to come back the next day for the quarter and semifinals. However, before leaving the park, the trio noticed a slight change in detail, the large halfpipe that would normally be at the center of the far side of the park was surrounded by construction workers as well as a crane. Evie and Kyou decided to walk up closer to the construction site.   
“I need to use the restroom” Yui excused herself.   
“Here, I’ll hold your board” Evie replied as she took Yui’s skateboard. The latter then walked to the park’s public restroom. Evie placed the skateboard on the ground as she engaged in conversation with Kyou.  
“So, how was the lunch?” Evie asked with a sly smile.  
“Today? It was ok” Kyou answered, he then began to explain how the school’s cafeteria is always underappreciated by the students to which Evie interrupted him mid sentence.   
“No, I meant before”   
“Before?” Kyou asked clearly confused. Evie reminded the boy of the time he was constantly pestering Yui for a duel. Evie explained that Yui didn’t have lunch that day because the girl had hurriedly given Kyou her lunch box. A full minute of silence had passed, Kyou’s expression changed from confused to embarrassed.  
“Wait! That was-”  
“Did you enjoy it or not?!” Evie snapped as she angrily grasped Kyou’s sweater with her hands. Evie had become too ecstatic that she failed to notice that the side of her foot had kicked Yui’s skateboard. The board had rolled onto the construction site, the two noticed and immediately turned their heads. A mobile crane machine had rolled in, the wheels of the large machine ran over the skateboard, snapping it in two. Kyou and Evie looked at the scene with shocked expressions.   
“What’s going on?” Evie and Kyou simultaneously flinched when they heard a familiar voice. Evie immediately let go of Kyou’s sweater and the two stood together trying to block the sight of the broken board.   
“Nothing!” the two blurted out. Yui had a look of slight confusion, there was a short pause before she spoke again.  
“Where’s my-”   
“Look at the sky!” Yui was interrupted mid-sentence after Evie had exclaimed.  
“It’s going to rain soon, we should get home quickly” Evie added while pushing and nudging Yui out of the park. Yui was about to protest out of confusion when she noticed that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but was quickly led out of the park. The two girls said goodbye to Kyou as they returned to their home. 

… 

The girls were sitting down in the living room, Evie was playing with the pets while Yui sat next to her attempting to pet the animals.  
“Is something on your mind?” Evie asked.  
There were many things on Yui’s mind. She wanted to ask if Evie is she has ever thought of her “parents”, the two girls had to have come from somewhere and someone right? She pondered over Loss’s words. What did the woman mean? Saying that Yui wasn’t human? If that were true, then who or what was she?  
“Not really” Yui replied.  
Not wanting to share the burden, Yui tried redirecting her train of thought. Whatever happened to her skateboard? Why was Kyou acting so weird after the matches? Then again, Yui never really questioned Kyou’s actions. In her eyes he was a fun loving boy, though with a bit of mystery. He was still a very important person to Yui. Evie as well, not wanting to put any burden on her, Yui kept the questions to herself. However, Yui couldn’t help but wonder, where did Evie come from? What was she doing, before the day they had met? All these thoughts were interrupted when a grey cat was put on Yui’s lap.   
“You have a sad look on your face” Evie said.  
“Duels can be a bit tiring” Yui lied, though she continued on in order to make her statement believable. Yui explained that though the game was fun, being attacked with holograms that cause pain can be draining at times. Evie took the grey cat in her hands and held it up to Yui’s face.   
“Isn’t he cute? … I think it’s a he” Evie said. Yui looked into the cat’s eyes, a small smile crept up on her face which immediately turned into confusion. The cat began to hiss. It unleashed its claws and took a quick swipe across Yui’s nose. The girls flinched, Yui held onto her nose while Evie had quickly let go of the cat and placed her hands on Yui’s shoulders.  
“Yui! I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” Evie exclaimed. Yui removed her hand from her nose, she checked her fingers to see if there was any blood, and was happy to find none.   
“I’m fine” Yui answered. Evie sighed in relief, though her face still expressed concern. Evie placed her hands on her lap and shifted closer to Yui as she rested her head on the girl’s shoulder. There was a moment of peace and silence and out of all the animals that were lounging around Yui decided to address the elephant in the room  
“What happened to my skateboard?”.

… 

All was quiet in that realm of darkness. There was no fog, not even the cloaked figure was present. Suddenly, the faint sound of a water drop had pierced the silence. Red fog had rolled in. Out of the fog was a man drenched in water. The man had menacing pink eyes and dark black hair that was slicked back with two short strands that hung over his forehead. The man wore a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up, a black vest, black pants with knife holsters on the legs, black dress shoes, and white gloves. The man scanned around the area, he took a brief pause before speaking.   
“Loss! I know you’re here”  
Within the darkness, the red fog revealed a mass of feathers spilling onto the floor. From the feathers appeared Loss herself.   
“Yes Slay?” The woman replied.  
“ I heard you found the last girl, congratulations did you tell her everything yet?” Slay asked in a slyly as he changed his tone up and down.  
“Not yet” Loss replied in a miserable tone. Slay’s expression had changed from a smile to an angered pout.   
“You know, I was expecting a “welcome back” or “why are you wet?” But no, instead I get incompetence, we’re all playing our part Loss, try to keep up” Slay said brazenly and irritatedly before walking back into the darkness. A long sigh escaped from Loss’s lips before she too disappeared. 


	9. Fire 9: Burned

Fire roared and engulfed the building. Bits of wood and debris crumbled from the walls and ceiling. A loud crash, a ceiling support beam had caved and blocked the door, taking away the only escape from the hellish scene. The air became hot, it was becoming hard to breathe.   
Yui bolted up from her bed, she panted for air and was drenched in sweat. ‘The same nightmare’, she thought. Yui gazed around her calm dark room, she turned to the window and gazed out, the moon was not visible in the night sky, though it’s light dimly shone through. Yui walked out her door and entered the bathroom. A minute later, the faint sound of a toilet’s flush and a sink’s faucet can be heard. Yui exited the bathroom and returned to her room, she checked her clock and saw that it was three in the morning. She considered returning to bed when all of a sudden, there was a sound. It was very faint but Yui could have sworn that the noise had come from her closet. Having traces of paranoia from her nightmare, Yui slowly walked to her desk drawer, attached her Deck Box to her left wrist and inserted her cards. She quietly walked to the closet, her paranoia was slowly starting to diminish, thinking it was probably one of the pets. Yui took hold of the closet door handle and opened it quickly. Nothing, only her clothes. Then all of a sudden, there was a tap, or at least Yui thought she heard a tapping noise at the window, she closed her closet and went to investigate. Ready with her cards, Yui checked out the window. Nothing. Feeling relieved, Yui let out a quiet sigh and decided to walk back into bed. Completely unaware of the man behind her.  
“Going to bed already?” a masculine voice said from behind. Yui quickly spun around, her hand reached for her cards about to defend herself when she was suddenly overtaken by an overwhelming sensation. Yui fell to her knees, her arms became weak at her sides and her head was forced to look down. Yui tried to move but she couldn’t, she felt as if gravity was overtaking her. Yui’s fear increased as she heard the same voice.  
“Shhhhh, Just relax I won’t hurt you” He said with a prolonged hush.   
“I am going to tell you something important and you’re going to listen, understand?” He asked. Feeling some strength return in her head and neck, Yui nodded.  
“I’ll be quick, I assume you’ve talked with Loss correct?” The man asked, catching Yui’s full attention.   
“I apologize for her strange behavior so I am here to help you understand, basically, the reason she said those things is because, You’re not from this world” The man went on to explain how there were other people like Yui. Twelve specifically. He then explained how these twelve individuals need to gather together or else a great disaster will fall.  
“This is very important” The man raised his voice as he emphasized the word “very”, causing Yui to flinch. The man went on to explain how he and Loss needed Yui to travel to these other worlds and find the rest of the individuals. They could be recognized if they wielded a “Destruction World” or “Repair World” card. After hearing those words, Yui had a sudden pause in thought. The name “Repair World” sounded very familiar.  
“Do you understand everything? Good! If you have any questions go ask Loss. Good night!” The man said in an agitated rush. Yui was suddenly forced onto the ground, she laid flat on her stomach, her forehead almost slammed against the floor, with all the strength she could muster up, she looked up to her assailant. Under the dim moonlight, she can make out a tall figure with bright pink eyes. The figure’s eyes began to glow and Yui blacked out.

… 

“Yui!” a familiar voice called out in the darkness. Yui’s eyes flew open, she was on the floor next to her bed, she looked up to see Evie kneeling beside with concern on her face. There was silence before the ravenette spoke again.  
“Nightmare?” Evie asked in a sad tone. Yui sat up before hesitantly nodding her head “yes”. Yui was immediately embraced by Evie, she returned the gesture by placing her hands on the latter’s back. Yui felt at peace, she was calming down to the fact that it was just a nightmare however the calm was immediately shot down once she had noticed a freighting detail. Her deck box was still attached to her wrist.   
“Do you feel better?” Evie asked.   
“Y-yeah, thanks” Yui snapped out of her trance and shakily replied. The two released each other from the embrace. Evie explained that a classmate was going to come to adopt one of the pets. Yui placed her hands behind her back, secretly slipping off her deck box. She didn’t want Evie to know what had happened, it would only cause fear for the other. Yui walked to the open kitchen to prepare breakfast. A few minutes later, the girl placed the plates of food on the table. Before she could pull out her chair, she was interrupted by the sound of the door bell. Yui turned her attention to the door and then to Evie, she quickly realised that Evie was in her school uniform while she was still in her sleepwear. Yui quickly ran to her room as Evie opened the door to greet the guest. While changing into her school uniform Yui overheard the two converse about the pets. Evie quickly changed her speech into baby talk. Once she was in her uniform Yui stepped out of her room to greet the guest. Yui immediately recognized the classmate. The three were in the same literature class, he was kind and polite, always had a smile on his face. While Yui knew who the guest was, there was still the slight feeling of discomfort after last night’s event. Evie handed their classmate a small white puppy, The later cradled the dog in his arms, receiving small kisses and light beats from its wagging tail.  
“What’s his name?” He asked.   
“Umm… he doesn’t have one, but I’m sure you can come up with something” Evie said cheerily.  
“Thanks again Rei, See you two in school” He said as he left holding the puppy in his arms.  
A few seconds after the door closed, Yui turns her head to see Evie wiping a few tears from her eyes.  
“Are you ok?” Yui asked.  
“I’m fine, I’m just going to miss whatever his name will be” Evie explained. Yui put on a smile, attempting to comfort the other  
“You’ll see him again one day” Yui said with her hand of Evie’s shoulder.  
“Do you want to eat breakfast?” Yui asked.  
“Sure, is it ready?” Evie replied. The two girls turned around to the dinner table only to see that the pets have stolen the food. They turned to face each other. Evie gave an awkward laugh and Yui quietly sighed as she walked back to the kitchen to cook again. They were going to run out of ingredients if this kept up.

… 

Kyou watched as his opponent’s life points drop to zero. The cheers of the audience fell on deafened ears as he wasn’t paying attention. Though he focused on winning, there was a lingering feeling of worry in the back of his mind. When the match ended he suddenly realized that the semifinals were over. The mayor announced the two contestants of the finals. Yui Vs. Kyou. Kyou became ecstatic knowing he could have a rematch against Yui. His positive energy was suddenly dropped when he recalled the girl’s behavior at school earlier. Kyou remembered Yui having a sad expression, he remembered she was more cautious than usual when left alone. Kyou’s thoughts were interrupted when the screech of a microphone blared throughout the park.   
“Sorry!” The Mayor yelled patting the head of the microphone to try and stop the noise. After a couple of irritating blares, the mayor announced to come back tomorrow for the Finals. The crowd cheered in excitement. As people began to leave the park Kyou noticed the sky becoming darker. Black clouds rolled in, the boy looked up into the sky, he didn’t have an umbrella so it would be best if he left now. However, he wanted to say goodbye to Yui and Evie first. A couple of rumbles and a few bright flashes.   
All of a sudden a large bolt of lightning came down and struck one of the large trees that were planted outside the gates of the park. Kyou fell back in shock, it was his first time seeing lightning strike the ground. People gasped as they saw the tree catch fire. Suddenly a second bolt of lightning struck, hitting the same tree but with more force. The tree now ablaze, slowly tipped over as it began to collapse. The blazing tree fell to the ground, blocking the entrance to the park’s public restroom. Audience members, skaters, and bypassers were panicking, quickly running out of the park to escape. Through the chaos, Kyou came to the grim realization. The entrance the tree blocked was the girl’s side, and Yui and Evie were nowhere in sight. 

… 

“Yui! Yui!” Evie’s shouts fell on deaf ears. Yui couldn’t move, her shoulders were gripped by Evie, her eyes were wide as she stared into the blaze. The fallen tree had blocked the only entrance and exit. The two girls were trapped with their backs against the wall.  
“It’ll be ok! It’s going to be ok!” Evie’s grip tightened as she tried shouting words of comfort. But Yui couldn’t hear anything, she just kept staring at the hot flames. Memories flooded back. Yui began remembering further and further back until she reached her very first memory.   
It was ten years ago, Yui was four at that time, she wore a small white gown with long sleeves. Yui remembered, when she opened her eyes, she was in a room. A room that was engulfed in flames. At that time she didn’t understand, where she was, or what was happening. She remembered the hot air, the sparks of fire that were flying and landing on her skin. She remembered wincing in pain from the contact of each spark. Yui began to shake in fear. Yui remembered debris falling from the ceiling as the fire grew bigger and bigger. The young girl fell to her knees with her hands covering her head, tears fell from her eyes, her nose was becoming clogged it was becoming hard to breathe. She shut her eyes and shakingly curled up in a ball on the floor.   
“Yui!”  
Yui snapped back to the present. She fell to her knees, her body trembled, and tears fell from her eyes. Evie immediately embraced Yui, her arms wrapped tightly around the latter’s shoulders. Yui took her trembling hands and covered her face. She hiccuped as more tears began to fall. 

… 

Kyou sprinted across the park, he ran up to the bathrooms and stopped when he was at a safe distance from the fire. With his Deck Box still on his wrist, he activated his holographic screen and playing boards. Kyou drew is cards and summoned his wolves. He kept summoning until all five monster card slots were full. Kyou’s wolves lunged at the tree and began to stomp on it. The holographic wolves managed to put out some of the fire, but the flames were still too big for him to jump in and rescue the girls. Kyou was becoming impatient, he started to consider jumping through the flames and rolling on the ground once he landed. Before he could do anything drastic, he heard the siren of a fire truck. Kyou turned around to see the big red vehicle, crew members came out with a long hose and began to drown out the flames. Once the fire had completely gone out, the holograms disappeared. Kyou sprinted to the restroom entrance regardless of the firefighters’ protests. He leaped over the fallen tree and ran up to the girls.  
“Yui! Evie! Are you-” Kyou stopped mid-sentence, he saw Yui with her hands balled up and covering her eyes, he could see she was trembling, he could see teardrops streaming on her cheeks.   
“Yui? What’s wro-” Kyou was interrupted yet again, when his hand was grabbed by Evie, he was pulled down to a kneeling position beside the two girls. Kyou looked towards Evie, he saw sadness on her face as she placed his arm around the crying girl. Evie hugged tighter. Kyou silently joined the embrace. 

… 

The sun had set. At the Rei residence, Kyou and Evie sat in silence, while Yui had locked herself in her room. They both had sad expressions on their face. Kyou wasn’t sure what to say or do, he felt trapped in the silence. A few minutes passed and the mayor had come out from Yui’s room. He too had a sad expression on his face. He explained that Yui was ok but she was still shaken up from the ordeal.  
“Sir? Is it ok if I asked?” Kyou asked. He wanted to know the reason for Yui’s tears. The mayor began his explanation. Yui suffers from severe pyrophobia. The mayor continued. Ten years ago, an abandoned home in Souel had caught fire. The cause of the blaze, unknown. A young girl was found collapsed among the flames. She was discovered when a young Evie had claimed she heard someone crying in the house. The girl was quickly rescued, she had no memories of who she was or where she came from. That girl was given a name, a sister, a guardian and a home. That girl was Yui. Kyou had no words, once again he didn’t know what to say. After processing the information given to him, he wanted to ask one more question.  
“But if she’s so afraid, why does she use a fire deck?”  
“You see, that was actually my idea” The mayor continued to explain. Yui used to be terrified of even the smallest flame, such as the fire on the stove or a candle. Because of this, the mayor replaced the gas stove with an electric cooktop and always asked if it was ok to turn it on when teaching her recipes. The mayor eventually proposed the idea of Yui overcoming her fear. One day he prepared a deck of duel monster cards. With the cards, he created a ring of fire that surrounded him and the girl. Yui’s first response was to shut her eyes and hide behind the man but after a few minutes of being surrounded by the flames, she noticed that it wasn’t hot. The fire wasn’t burning her. The Mayor believed Yui would be able to overcome her fear through a fun game. She would fight fire with fire. 

…

Yui sat on her bed, she hugged her knees to her chest, her blanket over her head and wrapped around her body. She could hear the conversation in the living room. She felt heavy, overwhelmed and like a burden. She really had no memory of before the fire. What if she really wasn’t human? What if she caused the fire? Will Kyou look or treat her any differently after learning her story? Her thoughts were cut off when she saw a small cyclone of black feathers on her floor. The feathers accumulated and dissolved revealing Loss. Yui stared at the woman, they both shared monotone expressions. Yui built up enough courage to ask.  
“That man… do you know him?”  
Loss didn’t answer. A long pause before Yui spoke again.  
“Won’t you talk to me?”   
Loss still didn’t answer. Yui was becoming annoyed.   
“I’m upset, you know? Why are you even here?” Yui said.  
Another pause.  
“I’ll help you protect them” Loss finally spoke, her voice still monotone. Yui raised her head in surprise giving Loss her undivided attention.  
“I’ll protect you and help you protect the ones you love” Loss said before disappearing in a flurry of feathers. Yui was left speechless. Then she heard a knock on the door. The door opened and Evie entered the room with a pillow, a blanket, a flashlight and a few books.   
“Kyou went home, I’ll stay with you tonight” Evie said as she set up her pillow and blanket. The confusion was still there, a sad smile crept up on her face as the two girls huddled together with a book in their laps. 


	10. Fire 10: Rekindling but...

The weekend had arrived. The tournament was postponed until another area could be found to host the finals. With nothing to do, the trio met up at the city’s public library. It wasn’t a big library but it was metaphorically tall since it had the most stories. It was Yui’s favorite place. The first floor contained children's books, the second floor held books meant for teenagers and young adults, and the third floor was a mystery because Yui and Evie were never allowed to go up there. Yui assumed that the top floor stored books that were “Too hard to read” and once she was older she would be able to explore that floor. Setting the mystery aside, the trio were on the second floor, sitting together at a small wooden table at a far corner, each with a book in their hands and each having a small pile of books next to them. Yui was focused on her story, she had picked an adventure genre, Evie picked a teen romance novel and Kyou had also picked an adventure series. Yui’s focus was broken when she felt slightly off. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kyou had been stealing quick glances at her. Yui pretended to read her book for a few seconds before speaking.

“Kyou? Is something wrong?” Yui asked in a quiet voice. 

“Ah- No, it’s nothing” Kyou replied, he too kept his voice down.

Silence returned, the two both returned to their books. A few seconds passed until the silence was broken again.

“Yui?” Evie spoke in a hushed tone, grabbing Yui’s attention. 

“What are you reading?” Evie asked. Yui gave the title and a short summary of the book she was reading. Evie seemed interested, she put on a smile and asked Kyou what he was reading. Kyou simply replied with the title of the book he was holding. A short pause. Both girls weren’t expecting such a short answer. Yui noticed a slight shake of Evie’s shoulders, meaning she was giggling.

“Um, what’s it about?” Evie asked after her small laughing fit. 

“Oh, well it’s about this guy who goes on an adventure to help his family” Kyou replied.

“Do you like adventure stories?” Evie asked.

“Yeah, they’re pretty fun to read” Kyou answered. He then asked the girls their favorite genres. Evie replied with romance. Yui didn’t have a particular genre that she deemed her favorite.

“Hm?” 

“Hm? Yes Kyou?” Yui asked.

“Oh, um, well, I just sort of noticed… you have a lot of manga in your pile” Kyou pointed out. There was an awkward pause, Yui felt her face slightly heat up. She instinctively turned her head and used the book she had in her hand to block the pile next to her.

“Oh, You do? Let me see” Evie eagerly reached for Yui’s pile of books. Yui tried stopping Evie but her books were quickly taken away. Evie and Kyou curiously examined the covers of the graphic novels. One had an illustration of a goddess next to a dragon, one had a kitsune fox, another had an illustration of two young men wielding swords and another had an illustration of a young girl wielding a staff. 

“Ooh, they look so epic” Evie commented with gleaming eyes 

“So this is how it opens” Kyou added, clearly amused. Yui looked away hiding her blushing face while the other two kept examining. She was particularly fond of mythology, fantasy, adventure, and romance manga. 

“Yui? What are you embarrassed about?” Kyou asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Evie added. Yui took a deep breath and a long exhale. 

“I didn’t want Kyou to know” Yui mumbled, her words could be heard due in the quiet library.

“Couples don’t hide anything from each other” Evie teased.

“We’re not a couple!” Yui exclaimed in a hushed tone, her face had become even redder. 

“I don’t see the problem” Kyou finally said. Yui began her explanation. She didn’t want people to know her most favorite books were the ones with the most pictures. After overhearing one of her teachers refer to them as “Children’s books” or “Not real books” in the past, she thought people would consider her “immature” and decided to hide her interest.

“I still don’t see the problem” Kyou responded.

“Well, it’s a problem for me” Yui said, mumbling her words again. She couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with Kyou so her gaze was fixed on the library floor.

“In that case, I won’t tell anybody” Kyou answered in a proud manner. 

“Also, you don’t have to worry about my opinion, I think it’s cool, let me read with you some time” Kyou added. 

“I’ll read with you too” Evie said eagerly. Yui was surprised by the requests, she turned her gaze to her friends. Her face was still red but her lips formed a small smile. She was about to say her thanks when her train of thought was interrupted by a strange gurgling sound. Her expression of embarrassment was quickly replaced with confusion, Evie had a puzzled look as well and hint of blush appeared on Kyou’s face.

“Uh, I’m sorry” Kyou said. With that, Evie suggested that they should go out to eat lunch. They returned their books and left the library. 

… 

Yui, Kyou and Evie walked through one of the many shopping districts in Souel. The district was crowded with many people. The district was lined with countless stores. Supermarkets, meat markets, bakeries, sandwich shops, fancy restaurants, jewelry stores, clothing stores, snack stands and even a watch and shoe repair stand. People were entering and exiting stores buying what they needed and what they wanted. There was an outdoor public lounge area where people could sit and eat. Yui walked to one of the small metal tables of the public lounge. She pulled out the metal chair and searched through the sea of people. Yui caught a glance of Evie and waved her hand to her. Evie noticed Yui’s wave and carefully maneuvered through the crowd. Yui then saw Kyou making his way through the crowd behind Evie. The trio got together and sat around the table with their food. Yui had two chicken kebabs she bought from one of the snack stands, Evie held a muffin and a candy bar she bought from a bakery, and Kyou had bought a ham and cheese sandwich from the same bakery. 

“Want it?” Evie offered the candy bar to Yui.

“No thanks” Yui replied. She didn’t like eating too many sweets, they’ve always made her thirsty. Evie was the opposite, she had a huge sweet tooth. Yui took a bite into one of her kebabs. 

“Mm! Yui, that looks good, where did you buy it?” Kyou asked with his half eaten sandwich. Yui wasn’t sure how to answer the question. In truth, it's hard for her to see the names of the stores, due to the constant crowd of people. All she knows is that she bought it from a stand with a red roof. Yui took her second unbitten kebab and handed it to Kyou while he was busy taking a bite into his sandwich. 

“Hmm? It’s fine, I have my own food” Kyou said.

“J-Just take it” Yui said stammering on her words.

“Are you sure?” Kyou asked.

“Yes” Yui answered firmly. She decided it would be her way of saying “thanks” for defending and encouraging her in the library. 

“Well, thank you!” Kyou said happily he took the kebab from Yui and bit into the meat. Yui could tell from his expression that he liked it. 

“Oh? Yui, I thought you liked eating meat? You always buy two of those for yourself” Evie pointed out.

“Oh second thought Evie, I’ll take the chocolate bar” Yui replied. This was her revenge. Yui didn’t like eating too many sweets, they’ve always made her thirsty. Evie was the opposite, she had a huge sweet tooth. Yui preferred meat over candy. Being in the track team she learned that the protein in meat can help her build muscle, thus she would be able to run longer distances. Yui missed the track team. When the tournament started she asked to take a leave of absence since she wouldn’t be able to make it to after school practices. Yui turned her gaze to Kyou again. She noticed that he was happily munching on the meat. She also noticed that he was eating a sandwich again. Kyou always ate sandwiches at lunch, She wondered if sandwiches were his favorite, just like Evie’s favorite was candy. Yui wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or not for the two. She began to wonder if Kyou had been eating properly, but then immediately stopped her train of thought. She shouldn’t intrude on such matters, surely his parents are feeding him at home. Although Kyou never talked about his parents, he never talked about his life outside of school. Yui wasn’t even sure where he lived in Souel.

“Yui? Is something wrong? You’ve been staring at me for a long time”.

Silence. Despite the chatter of the crowd. Yui began to panic inside, she was so caught up in there thoughts that she didn’t realize she had been staring at Kyou the whole time. Yui needed to say something, anything, the reply “Nothing” would just make the situation more awkward. 

“Your eyes are pretty” Yui blurted out turning away. More silence among the three. 

“Y-you think so?” Kyou stammered. Yui was surprised by such a response she looked back at Kyou and noticed the bright red blush on his face, this time he was looking away. 

“Uh… yeah” Yui replied she took another bite of her kebab, the situation was still awkward.

“So I’m done! Do you guys want to walk around together?” Evie eagerly offered. The two quickly accepted the offer. Yui swiftly tore the rest of the meat off the wooden stick before chewing and swallowing. She threw the stick in a nearby trash can and quickly got up and kept her gaze on Evie as she got up. Yui took a glance at Kyou and saw that he imitated her behavior when finishing the kebab. 

“So, where do you want to go?” Kyou asked.

… 

The trio ended up taking a stroll and conversing along the way. Evie interrupted herself mid-sentence when she noticed Yui’s attention was directed somewhere else. Evie and Kyou stopped and turned to look at what Yui was staring at. They had ended up outside the skatepark. The gates were chained together with a large sign with information about the fire and how the tournament was postponed until further notice. A sad expression was drawn on Yui’s face. She wished the lighting never happened. 

“Oh hey look guys it’s Sora and the Rei siblings” A voice called out. Yui, Evie and Kyou turned to the voice and saw three of their classmates each with a skateboard in hand. The student who called out their names had a smug expression on his face. 

“Where’s your board Rei?” He asked.

“It broke” Yui answered in a very dull tone.

“Yeah right! I’ve never seen you do tricks on it, you probably can’t do any” The boy sneered and the three classmates laughed.

“For your information, tricks are dangerous” Evie said crossing her arms.

“Don’t you guys have better things to do?” Kyou added.

“Yeah, yeah we’re leaving” The boy said before the three students walked away. Yui didn’t pay any mind to their words. She wasn’t too big on doing skateboard tricks, casually skating on the flat ground was fun enough for her. 

“Hey, Yui?” Kyou spoke up, Yui directed her attention to him.

“Do you… want to have the final now?” Kyou asked nervously. Yui was surprised at the request, why was Kyou asking to duel her now? 

“Um… ok” Yui agreed. Yui didn’t know why she agreed, her mouth was moving faster than her mind.

“Are you sure?” Kyou asked. Yui wasn’t sure, she was a bit tired and she kind of wanted to go home. Yui let out a long quiet sigh.

“Let’s duel” Yui answered. Kyou nodded, he walked further away. Both duelists took out their deck boxes that were in their pockets and swiftly slid their cards in. Holographic screens and playing boards appeared before them. Yui chose rock and Kyou chose paper.

**DUEL!**

Kyou: 4000

Yui: 4000

**Turn 1: Kyou**

“My turn!”

“I send Habi-Pack: Forest Lambda to the graveyard, to special summon 2 Level 3 or lower Habi-Pack monsters”

“I special summon Habi-Pack: Forest Eta and Habi-Pack Arctic Eta”

_ Habi-Pack: Arctic Eta _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1300 Def: 1300 _

_ Water _

_ Beast _

_ Habi-Pack: Forest Eta _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1300 Def: 1300 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

“I summon Habi-Pack Forest Beta”

_ Habi-Pack: Forest Beta _

_ Lvl 4 _

_ Atk: 1900 Def: 1500 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

_ When this card is summoned you can special summon another Lvl 3 or lower beast type monster in your hand _

“Beta’s effect activates, I special summon Habi-Pack Arctic Epsilon from my hand”

_ Habi-Pack: Arctic Epsilon _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 1000 Def: 1000 _

_ Water  _

_ Beast _

_ Send one card from your hand to the graveyard to change the level of one monster on your field _

“Epsilon’s effect activates, I send one card to the graveyard and change Beta’s level from 4 to 3”

“I overlay my level 3 Arctic Eta and Level 3 Forest Eta to build the overlay network” 

“I Xyz summon Rank 3 Forest Omega”

_ Forest Omega _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 2200 Def: 2700 _

_ Earth _

_ Beast _

“I rebuild the overlay network and overlay level 3 Forest Beta and level 3 Arctic Epsilon”

“I Xyz summon Rank 3 Arctic Omega”

_ Arctic Omega _

_ Lvl 3 _

_ Atk: 2200 Def: 2700 _

_ Water _

_ Beast _

“I end my turn”

**Turn 2: Yui**

Yui drew her card and stared at her hand with dull eyes. The amount of bad luck she was having today. No, this whole week! All spell cards and a drawn trap card. One of the spells in her hand was Fox Fire- Orange. She could activate that, to add Kitsune Woman Wind to her hand. However, who was she going to summon after? If she normal summoned Wind she can special summon a monster with an effect that’s activated when it’s special summoned, and activate another monster’s effect when it’s special summoned. But that will leave her with three monsters and she will need two Xyz monsters in order to defeat Kyou’s wolves. Or she could use all three monsters as materials to summon 1 Xyz monster to try and defend herself. Or she could- … 

What’s the point?

“I end my turn” Yui said. She didn’t summon any monster or set any cards. Her arms fell at her sides and she placed her gaze at the ground, she couldn’t see Kyou’s expression. There was a long pause before Kyou declared his turn again. 

**Turn 3: Kyou**

“... my turn… draw”

“Both Omegas attack you directly” Kyou said in almost a sad tone. Both large wolves lunged at Yui knocking her to the ground and taking away her life points. 

Yui: 4000 → 0

**Winner: Kyou**

The holograms disappear and Yui gets up from the ground and avoids Kyou’s gaze.

“So… I guess I’m the winner” Kyou said awkwardly. Yui was silent.

“I… Had a really nice day with you two, thanks for dueling me Yui” Kyou added. 

“Um… I had fun too” Yui said.

“I think I should head home now” Kyou said. Evie walked to Yui, she had a slightly sad expression on her face. She placed her hand on Yui’s shoulder. 

“Get home safe” Yui said.

“Bye Kyou” Evie added as the boy walked away. 

  
  



	11. Fire 11: Apology

Yui and Evie walked home after a fun day. However, it wasn’t so fun near the end. The walk back home was silent. The streets seemed empty, Yui blankly staring at the road in front of her, but was eventually snapped out of it when she heard Evie let out a soft gasp. Yui stopped walking and turned to Evie’s direction to see what caught her attention. The two were on the sidewalk that was on the outskirts of Souel’s many urban parks. It was hard to see what exactly Evie was gazing at, the park had many trees that blocked out most of the sunlight. However, another glance at the trees and Yui had found what Evie had found. Behind one of the thick barks, a small fox carefully scanned its surroundings before sprinting behind another tree and peeking its head out from behind. 

“Isn’t it cute?” Evie cooed. Yui honestly agreed, A real-life fox was such a rare sight to see, ironically it was rare for Yui to see a fox with only one tail and not more. Yui stopped her train of thought when she noticed Evie inching closer to the park.

“Wh-What are you doing? It’s a wild animal” Yui said in a hushed tone.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to adopt it, I just want to look closer” Evie whispered back in a teasing manner. However, once Evie placed her foot forward, the fox scurried away deep into the park. 

“Aw, oh well, let’s go home” Evie said with slight disappointment before walking ahead. Yui followed. Time passed and the two girls returned home. The pets had swarmed Evie with sniffs and kisses while Yui was avoided once again. As if she wasn’t sad enough. Yui walked into the house and was greeted by the sight of a large present wrapped in white paper and a red ribbon. Yui walked to the present and examined it. She saw a card that read “To Yui”. 

“Oh! Open it!” Evie said excitedly. Yui kneeled down and proceeded to unravel the red ribbon and carefully tore off the wrapping paper. Yui opened the box to find a brand new skateboard. 

“Do you like it? It’s a present from the mayor” Evie asked.

“I do but… I feel bad for taking it” Yui answered. Evie kneeled down next to Yui.

“Yui, did you have a good day?” Evie asked.

“It was a good day” Yui answered. 

“Great! So…” There was a pause. Evie’s expression had become glum. Yui was confused but she had a feeling she knew what Evie wanted to say. 

“Do you not like dueling anymore?” Evie asked. It wasn’t the question Yui was expecting but it was relevant. Yui enjoys dueling and still does.

“So, what happened between you and Kyou?” Evie asked. There were many answers to that question however all but one were lies. Yui didn’t want to answer, she didn’t think Evie would understand.   
Yui replied that she was tired. Probably the worst reason out of the ones she could come up with. There was another pause before Evie broke the silence. 

“Oh, ok then” Evie said returning to her happy energetic mood. Yui became confused once again. The two got up from the floor, Yui took the skateboard in her hands and Evie spoke. 

“Kyou must be happy to win, right?” Evie said.

“Yeah” Yui responded dully.

“But you know, I don’t think he wanted to win that way, especially knowing how strong you are” 

“Hm?”

“I’m happy you had a nice day, you should tell that to Kyou tomorrow” Evie added before leaving to her room. Without a word, Yui paused before leaving for her room. She held the skateboard under her arm as she entered her bedroom and closed the door. Yui took the board into her hands and gave it another gaze. Nothing. There was nothing in her mind, she felt happy but at the same time guilty. The silence was going to drive her mad, and so she put the board down, walked to her desk and opened the drawer. Next to her deck was the infamous ritual monster. 

“Loss?” Yui called out. A single black feather flies out, a whirlwind and the elegantly dressed woman appears before Yui. A long pause, the two stared at each other for a while. Suddenly, Yui walks to her bed before face planting into her pillow. She groaned and began to question herself on why she thought talking to Loss would have been a good idea. Yui turned her head to the woman, she was staring out the window. Yui decided to think of something else, she still had questions about that recent night. However…   
Yui really did not want to talk. She replanted her face into her pillow and let out another soft groan. Even if she wanted to talk, she couldn’t find the right words. 

“Is that all you wanted to say?” Loss asked in her usual monotone voice. Yui didn’t respond.

“Are you done wasting my time?” Loss asked there with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, she then compared Yui to an author on writer’s block, but instead of brainstorming ideas, she spends her time agonizing over the issue. How rude! However, she did have a point. This was the first time Loss appeared under Yui’s call. Whatever questions Yui had she should just ask! Otherwise, Loss would take her leave just like the first time she appeared. Throwing away her nervous feelings, she practically launched herself up in a kneeling position on her bed.

“How tall are you?!” Yui blurted out. … Ok, maybe the nerves were still there, Loss didn’t answer or react. After a short pause, Yui quietly cleared her throat and tried again. Why did Yui have to go on a journey? What made it so important? It’s not like she could just take a personal vacation from school and wouldn’t others be worried if she was absent for a long period of time?

“If you’re so worried about it then don’t go” Loss suddenly stated.   
… that’s it? No objections? No words of encouragement, not even a threat?

_ Well, what do you want me to say? _

Yui was taken aback, she forgot that Loss had that ability. 

“I’ll explain to you, since you’re too cowardly to ask for anything” Loss said. Again, rude! But Yui was… thankful and listened intently to the explanation. Like that man said, who’s name happened to be “Slay”, there are twelve important individuals and four out of twelve were being accompanied by allies, affiliates of Loss and Slay. Slay certainly didn’t act like an ally, to which Loss explained, “he likes messing around a lot”, with much emphasis on “a lot”. Yui being one of the four with a companion, if she didn’t want to leave, then one of the other three could go on the journey. 

“What happens if no one goes?” Yui asked. Loss took a long pause before answering, she didn’t know what would happen. However, the lightning on that day, and the fact that it was the same day Yui encountered Slay. It couldn’t have been a good sign and thus Yui made her decision. 

“I’ll go” If she didn’t leave then someone else would have to go on the journey. It would be a heavy burden that no one else should have to bear. Not Evie, not Kyou, not even the other three people. They could be her family, and Yui would finally be able to learn about herself.

_Are you running away?_

Yui didn’t answer, she looked at Loss who was still staring out the window. Yui took a short pause before slowly getting up from her bed and checking her clock that read 4:00 pm. 

“I’ll be back” Yui said in almost a hushed tone, she quickly went out her bedroom door and into the living room, not stopping to see Loss disappear in a flurry of feathers. Before leaving, Yui quickly went to Evie’s room and knocked on the door a few times.

“Evie, I need to go somewhere I’ll be back” she said. 

“Wait what?! Where are you going?” Yui didn’t answer that, because she knew if she had answered that she would get teased. Making her way out the door, she walked down the path that she would normally walk to and from school. Yui reached the fork in the road that separates her home and wherever it was that the second path led. Kyou always went down that path after school so surely she would find where he lived. Yui sped walked with a few sprints here and there, trying her best to save time and energy. After some time walking between nothing but trees, she found herself in a small residential area. Multi-colored houses lined up side by side between roads, there were many lamp posts and each house had a tiny planting ground at the side, each growing with different types of flowers. It was pretty cute in Yui’s opinion, yet it was also strangely familiar. The streets were empty, meaning Yui would have to knock on one of the doors of the houses. Yui briefly looked around before deciding to approach one of the houses. She stepped on the white porch of a calming blue house and gave the door a gentle knock. A woman opened the door. 

“Uh- hi! Sorry if I’m bothering you but can you tell me where the Sora residence is?” Yui asked.

“Sora? What’s their last name?” 

“No, Sora is their last name”

The woman took a moment to think before apologizing, she didn’t know anyone with that name in the neighborhood. Yui said thank you and goodbye before checking another house, and another, and another. All attempts ended with the same result, finding Kyou was going to be more difficult than she initially thought. If Kyou didn’t live in the area then that would mean he lived further down the road, but would it be a good idea to go further from home? She didn’t want to spend too much time outside considering she didn’t know what time it was and she could see the colors of the sunset sky start to appear. Maybe she could find a map somewhere-

“Where do you think you’re going? A girl like you shouldn’t be out all alone~” Yui sprinted, she didn’t know where she was going, she just wanted to get away from the owner of that horrifyingly familiar voice. She kept running until the path led her through more trees, the entrance to a park she thought. Yui ran off the path and into the forested area, hoping to lose her pursuer. Placing her back against a tree, she prepared to sprint again but fell over when she bumped into something. Yui shut her eyes as she was going down, she felt her hand touch cloth and when she opened her eyes she identified that “something” to be the brown-haired golden-eyed boy. Except his eyes were shut tight due to the pain of the collision. Yui was overjoyed to find Kyou, she quickly got up and brushed any dirt off her clothes and helped the boy up. As she was helping Kyou get up, his eyes opened and his face showed visible surprise to see the girl.

“Kyou! There’s someone following me, please help” Yui pleaded, she noticed Kyou’s eyes slightly widening after hearing that statement.

“Ok! Follow me!” Kyou quickly scanned the area before grabbing Yui’s hand, he hastily led her through the forested area of the park, until they were back on the path again. Kyou’s movements began to slow down and Yui saw the church. The same abandoned church with the large circular fountain that Evie brought her to that early morning. That’s why the neighborhood looked familiar because Yui was walking half asleep at that time she wasn’t paying full attention to her surroundings. With her hand still in Kyou’s, he led her up the creaky wooden stairs, being cautious of the missing step and through the front doors. Once inside Kyou let go of her hand. The church was small on the inside with only six rows of pews, and one window at the top of the back wall, on the same wall under the window was a stone fireplace with only a couple of burnt twigs and branches. A dirty pile of fabric laid on the floor near the stone fireplace, it was the type of fabric that would normally be seen with fashion designers with many different colors and designs. Yui also noticed a small round clock near the pile of fabric along with the empty box of lunch that she had given Kyou, a neatly folded Souel middle school uniform that acted as a makeshift pillow and a few books and pencils that were peeking out of a school bag. Kyou’s school bag. Yui turned to the boy who was peeking outside the front doors before carefully closing them and grabbing a dirty chain off the floor to tie the handles together.

“Ok, we should be safe here,” Kyou said with his hands at his hips.   
Yui was still attempting to piece things together, did Kyou live here? It couldn’t be but all his belongings were here including his deck box and cards that rested on his bag. 

“Yui, what are you doing out so late?” Kyou asked.

“Late? What time is it?” Yui asked. Kyou walked to the pile of fabric and took the small round clock in his hands before answering,

“8 pm” 8 pm!? Yui was walking around for four hours? She looked up at the church window and saw that the sky had completely darkened. Evie must be worried. But before that, Yui had to solve the issue at hand.

“I was looking for you”

“Couldn’t you have done that tomorrow?” Kyou responded quickly, there was worry in his voice, he was upset and now Yui felt more guilty.

“I’m sorry” Yui blurted out. She began to explain everything, she apologized for making him worry, she apologized for giving up on their last duel, she told Kyou, how she knew it was impossible to defeat him and so she didn’t want to bother trying.

“But- but you did defeat me remember?” Kyou asked. Yui has burning effects, Kyou has “one-hit KO’s” the truth of the matter was that, even though Yui utilized these effects, her flames just couldn’t burn fast enough. 

“But… you still defeated me, you drew Loss and turned everything around” Kyou explained.

“That was pure luck, I don’t even remember putting that card in my deck” Yui protested. 

“So? This game requires luck, didn’t you notice?” Kyou asked with a short chuckle. Yui paused, realizing he had a point and remembering the bad hand she had at the start of their last duel. Even in arguments, she couldn’t win against him. That sounded like a line in a typical romance novel. If Yui were to say that in front of Evie, she would definitely get teased by the latter. 

“I’m happy you told me but, I hope you don’t mind the place” Kyou said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“What do you mean?” Yui asked.

“I mean, the home you and Evie live in, it’s really clean and warm and you cook good food- oh wait, I forgot to return this” Kyou rambled before walking to the fabric pile and grabbing the empty lunch box. So Kyou did live here. Forget about the lunch box, why was he living here? What about his parents? What would he do if he got sick? Has he gotten sick? What about money? What-

“Yui it’s ok” Kyou stopped Yui’s onslaught of questions, he took a brief pause before answering. 

“I don’t have parents, I was brought here”

“By who?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Oh! Uh, it’s a long story”

“Then tell me”


	12. Fire 12: Memories of a stray

A small boy peeked out of the small dark alleyway, he was about four or five years old. Although, he didn’t know his age, or his name, or anything that was going on around him. The boy wore a white long sleeve shirt and shorts. He saw many people walking in and out of buildings, carrying bags and eating food. He was hungry, but he had to look through garbage cans only when people weren’t around. The boy had to hide in the shadows otherwise, people would see his dirty clothes, his messy brown hair, and his eyes. His terrifying eyes that he discovered when he saw his reflection on a small broken mirror. His eyes that would make adults and other children run away after a single glance. People would whisper and stare while walking past and other people would yell or push him down whenever he tried to approach them. The boy didn’t understand a lot of things, but one thing was clear. He wasn’t wanted, therefore the boy decided to cover his eyes with his hair and keep it that way, so no one would have to see what made him so frightening. The boy sat down against the hard wall and hugged his knees to his chest. His stomach still hurt, he closed his eyes and rested his head in his arms. He let his world turn black, with the bustling and chatter of people as background noise. Some time passes and all of a sudden--

“Um…” the boy heard a small voice, he raised his head up and turned to the sound. The strands of hair covering his eyes weren’t thick so he could still see what was in front of him and through the strands of his hair, he could make out two short figures wearing matching white dresses with small pink sweaters. One had black hair that didn’t quite reach her shoulders and one had dual-colored blue bangs and orange-red hair that fell just below her ears. The boy stared at the two for a minute and saw how intently they were staring back. A few seconds passed before the boy realized that there were two girls kneeling very close to him. He jumped with a surprised yelp causing the other two to do the same. He clumsily scurried away and turned his head when he felt his back hit the dead-end wall of the alleyway. The boy turned his head back to the girls when he heard the sound of plastic. The one with red and blue hair held out a sandwich and gestured to him to eat it. The boy was hesitant at first, but his hunger led him to lean in and take a bite. The girl placed the sandwich in the boy’s hands as he continued to take quick bites. The second girl with black hair had a happy expression and carefully approached the boy.

“Hey, can you see?” She asked, slowly raising her hand to reach his face. But when the boy noticed her attempt, he quickly turned away from her hand.

“V don’t do that” the girl with dual-colored hair said. “V” quickly stepped back from the boy. There was silence, the boy began fidgeting with the empty plastic after finishing the sandwich. 

“Oh! I know! U, Let’s go to that place!” V exclaimed before grabbing both “U” and the boy’s hands. V pulled them up but was stopped when the boy refused to get up.

“It’s ok… let’s play together” U said calmly while reaching out for his second hand. The boy was very hesitant, through the messy strands of hair, he saw that both girls had a gentle smile on their faces. He reached for U’s hand and got up from the ground. Without warning, V took off in a sprint, surprising and dragging the other two with her. The three children ran and as they maneuvered through the crowd of people. 

… 

The boy was dragged to a building that had many shelves with books. He was amazed by how quiet it was, he felt safe and warm. The girls guided the boy to a far corner of the building, a small isolated area with a mini table and short chairs. The three sat down at the table.

“This is our favorite place” V whispered while smiling. U had got up to look for a book on one of the many shelves. She placed a thin hardcover book on the table and opened it to the first page.

“Can you read?” U asked. The boy looked down at the book, to his surprise he understood the words that were on the page and so he quietly read them out to the girls.

“Wow~ Oh, wait here” V whispered in amazement before getting up and leaving the area. She quickly came back with sheets of white paper and a handful of crayons. She placed the paper down at the table and gave them each crayon. 

“Do you know how to write?” V asked. The boy thought for a moment before shaking his head no. There was a short pause, the two girls looked at each other with wonder on what they should do. U took a sheet of paper and with the crayon in her hand, she began writing out each letter of the alphabet. She then placed the paper and a blank sheet in front of him.

“Just copy this” U said. The boy was still confused, he took the crayon in his hand and hesitantly hovered it over the blank paper. U then got up from her seat and stood behind him to help guide.

“Like this and this” U held his left hand and placed it at the side of the blank paper, she took his right hand and helped move his hand to form each letter. There was a warm feeling inside his chest and back he smiled when he saw the end result, it was messy but it looked similar to U’s more or less.

“Oh, sorry” U quickly moved away, the warmth on the boy’s back faded which left him confused once again. They moved onto the next topic, what was his name? The boy paused for a moment before shaking his head no. He did not have a name or rather, he didn’t know what a “name” was. U took another sheet of blank paper, she used her crayon to write the letters Y-U-I and presented it to him. V also took a sheet of paper to write her name, E-V-I-E. Yui and Evie. The boy tried saying them aloud, but before he could say anything else, Evie eagerly decided that they should give him a name. The boy didn’t object, there was another warm feeling in his chest as he decided to go along with the decision. The girls took out many books from the shelves and began looking through each page. Meanwhile the boy decided to practice writing, he wrote out the alphabet multiple times on the remaining sheets of paper as well as random words he saw when Yui and Evie were looking through their books. Time passed and Evie let out a groan and a complaint. She was getting bored and at one point she forgot that they were looking for names. Yui let out a quiet giggle and Evie was quickly snapped out of her boredom when she suggested walking around the city. The two girls got up from their seats and so did the boy but before he moved away from the table there was one word that caught his eye. It was from an open book that Yui was previously reading. The page was the beginning of a chapter and the first word in the first sentence was the word “Yo” in bold and with the “Y” enlarged. He noticed how similar it was to Yui’s name, so he wrote it down on the sheet of paper with his handwriting practice and folded it up before rushing to the girls.

… 

“I know! Let’s bring him home!” Evie announced.

“Eh! Wha? But!” Yui cried out in surprise, she showed clear extreme hesitation and quickly ran to Evie’s side to whisper something.

“Don’t worry about it~” Evie said with a smile on her face, she took both their hands before dragging them along. The three children walked in silence as Evie guided them through the shopping district, past a large gated area that was under construction and down a path. At one point Evie stops and glances around. They saw lined up multi-colored houses but not their house, Yui asked if she was lost to which Evie quickly replied “no”. Evie looked around with slight worry on her face, Yui acted calmer and looked back at the path they walked. However, something had caught her eye. The boy took notice and turned to the direction Yui was staring at. In front of the porch of one of the houses was a table with many miscellaneous items. The three walked up to the house to get a closer look at the table, they were then greeted by an elderly woman.

“Oh? Hello! How may I help you?” She asked cheerily.

“Uh, well…” Yui tried speaking, meanwhile, the boy was shying away behind her. His hiding attempts were in vain when the elderly woman noticed him and let out a distressed gasp.

“What happened? Is he alright?” she asked 

“He was like this when we found him,” Evie said. The elderly woman gazed at the boy with concerned eyes.

“Wait here a moment” The woman said before entering her house. A few minutes passed and she came out with a large stuffed nylon drawstring bag. 

“Take this, it’s a clean outfit and there’s another one for when you get bigger” The woman said as she handed the bag to the boy. The boy didn’t know how to respond, he took the bag and said thank you. But the woman still noticed his frightened expression, her face lit up for a second and she asked for them to wait again as she returned into her home. When the woman returned she held a small cardboard box and knelt down to the boy. The woman presented the box to the boy. The box was cosmic colored with the artwork of a vicious looking wolf in the corner. 

“My son Aozora loves this game, I bought a set of cards for myself but I never learned how to play, maybe you’ll like it” The woman explained with a bright smile on her face. The boy turned to Yui and Evie. The two girls simultaneously nodded their heads saying that it was ok to take the box. The boy took the box from the woman and said his thanks. Noticing that the other two girls didn’t receive anything the woman quickly glanced over the table of items. She handed Yui many rolls of fabric and gave Evie two necklaces. One necklace was blue with white circles and the second was black with red circles. The three children were extremely grateful, only Yui had trouble holding all the fabric rolls together. They waved goodbye before walking away. The boy looked at the gifts he received as he walked, he was still trying to process everything. He felt happy, loved and safe. The boy stopped in his tracks when Evie let out a sound of surprise, she pointed to what she saw. A large old building with growing moss and a slightly rusted bell and a large circular fountain in front of it.

“Let’s see inside!” Evie said eagerly. The three walked up to the doors and carefully climbed the wooden steps. But one step broke and caused Yui to lose her balance. The boy quickly caught her and helped her stand back up. Once inside they put down their gifts, there wasn’t much to explore so they sat together on one of the wooden benches. At one point Evie put on the black and red necklace around Yui’s neck, to which Yui helped put on the blue and white necklace on Evie’s neck. The boy was examining the box the elderly woman gave him, inside were many cards printed with wolf illustrations, along with numbers and words. 

“Are you ok?” Yui asked out of the blue. The boy turned to the girl and nodded his head yes. Yui turned away and focused her eyes on the ground before speaking again.

“Let’s stay friends ok?” she asked. The boy nodded in delight.

“Me too! I wanna be friends too!” Evie happily said. There was a long silence but the three were happy.

“Yui! Evie!” A man’s voice could be heard from outside, which grabbed the girls’ attention. 

“Oh! That’s him!” Evie exclaimed in joy before jumping up from the wooden bench. Yui followed but before leaving the doors of the run-down building she looked back to the boy.

“Uh... bye” Yui said quietly with a small wave, her attempted smile showed a little sadness and with that, she left. The day went on and the night arrived, the boy used the rolls of fabric Yui left behind as a makeshift bed and blanket. He looked at the paper with his handwriting practice, he still had to come up with a name for himself. “Yo” wasn’t looking too appealing anymore, he put down the paper and looked at the cards again, inside was a small booklet of rules to play the game. But suddenly there was a flash of light and the boy looked around the room. Another flash but he could see it through the cracks of the building’s doors. He slowly opened the doors and peeked outside. To his surprise, a glowing gold ball of light was shining above the fountain. The gentle glow made the boy walk closer to the light. Once he was at the edge of the fountain the golden glowing orb shrunk and formed into a small butterfly. The boy held out his hand being completely immersed with what was happening before him. The butterfly landed on his hand and spread its wings as if presenting them to him. The butterfly’s wings separated and formed into two cards. The first was a green card with the illustration of a large red heart and a title that read “Admiration”. The second card had an illustration of what looked like a butterfly attached to a heart by a long ribbon and was titled “Repair World Card: Kindness”. The two cards released another glow and this time the shine was accompanied by a strong gust of wind. The boy shut his eyes and firmly but gently held onto the cards in his hands. When he reopened his eyes he noticed that his sight was clear, there was no hair in the way that hindered his vision. The boy looked down at the large circular fountain and saw his reflection. His hair had parted away from his eyes and under the moonlight, he gazed at his face. Golden eyes. The eyes that made everyone terrified of him, the eyes that he decided to hideaway. He could see a lot clearer without the hair in his face but one question rang in his mind. Would Yui and Evie still want to be friends with him? He looked at the two cards in his hands and he remembered everything that happened today. It was because of Yui’s kindness that he was able to eat clean food, he learned how to write and received so many gifts. The boy returned to the worn-down building, he was able to come up with a name. 

… 

The clicking sound of chalk against a green board rang throughout the classroom. The new freshman student of Souel Middle school wrote his name on the board. When he was finished he placed the chalk down and faced the class.

“My name is Kyou Sora, it’s nice to meet you” he said. Kyou slowly let his eyes travel across the classroom and was delighted to see two familiar girls.

… 

Kyou would then study basic subjects in the library. He learned about money and discovered that people would often throw coins into the large fountain. He would collect the coins and use them to buy something to eat. He took the Souel middle school entrance exam and was accepted. Classmates always assumed that he was a transfer student since he came in during the middle of the semester. Yui was stunned by all this information, she didn’t know what to say, she remembered that day. She felt it was her fault. It was her fault that Kyou had to live like this. It was her fault for not reminding Evie when she forgot about him that day. Yui wrapped her arms around Kyou. She wanted to fix this. The sky outside the single window was pitch black. The two decided to walk back together, Evie was probably worried. Yui made a mental note to apologize to Evie

… 

A week passed- 

*Beep* 

“Attention students of Souel middle school!” A familiar man’s voice rang through the school intercom.

“This is mayor Mizutani bringing you an exciting message” 

“I am happy to announce that the Souel City Duel Monsters tournament will resume this weekend, the finals match will be this Saturday, tomorrow and will be held at your school’s outdoor field” He explained. The students began whispering to each other in delight and waited for him to speak again. 

“Finalists, you know who you are, good luck!”

*Click*

With that, Yui and Kyou became the center of everyone’s attention. Students were mumbling and whispering out of excitement and curiosity. Everyone knew about Kyou and his tendency to challenge others but not everybody knew Yui’s dueling prowess. The bell rang, signaling the end of school. It was happening, Yui felt a bit nervous but determined. 


	13. Fire 13: Brawl

At long last, it was the day of the final round, students and guests gathered sitting on the bleachers. The large half-pipe ramp was placed at the center of the school’s track field. Excitement filled the air, as Kyou stood atop one side of the halfpipe while the staff attached a pin microphone to his sweater. His deck of cards clamped around his wrist as he was ready to face his opponent… Empty air… Ok, the excitement was in the air but so was confusion. Yui was nowhere to be found and the crowd was becoming somewhat impatient, while Evie and Kyou’s concern for her grew higher and higher. Where could she be? They thought. Wherever she was, she needed to hurry.

… 

On one of the branches of a tall tree, a white brown spotted cat meowed in distress. Yui gazed up at it with wide eyes and a conflicted expression. Sometime earlier, Yui had been riding to school on her new skateboard when she noticed a young girl calling a name up mentioned tree. Yui stopped and told Evie to go ahead of her, not knowing what she was getting into. The young girl explained that her cat climbed up the tree and was stuck. Yui did not want the girl to be sad or the cat to get hurt, and thus multiple attempts were made to climb up the tree. She tried wrapping her arms and legs around the trunk, reaching for a lower branch to pull herself up, even running up and jumping as high as she could. All attempts resulted in her painfully landing on the grass. So climbing the tree wasn’t possible. Yui sits up from the ground with a few leaves in her hair, she gazes up at the tree and she gets an idea. Yui takes out her deck of cards from the box around her wrist, she searches for “Kitsune Vulpine: 3 Tails'' and turns on her deck box to summon it. The tiny fox appeared in a flash of light and easily ran up the tree trunk, once it reached the branch, the cat yowled and jumped off. While on the ground, Yui hurriedly got up and positioned herself to where the cat would land. However, Yui’s plan did not go as accordingly, the cat had landed on her face and began flailing around. Yui fell on her bottom once again as the cat ran to the young girl behind.   
“Ah! Thanks miss!” The young girl cried out in joy.  
“N-no problem” Yui replied with an attempted smile. She slowly got up as pain was still lingering in her body. Yui checked the clock on her duel box, she saw the time and began to panic as she was late to her very important match. Yui scrambled to her skateboard and said her goodbyes before quickly riding off.

… 

Yui rushed through the school gates and made her way to the track field.  
“I’m here!” Yui yelled and was surprised that the familiar half-pipe ramp was placed at the center of the field. The combination of her two favorite places in terms of physical activity made a small smile appear on her face. However, Yui has never actually gone down the half pipe. She paid no mind to the giggles and laughter from the crowd as she made her way up the metal staircase to the empty side of the ramp. Yui took a moment to realize that her skateboard was still under her arm, she walked to the edge of the ramp and set it upside down. Suddenly two staff members approached her to set up her pin microphone.  
“How are you Yui?” The mayor asked from the MC stand.  
“I’m good!” Yui yelled out trying to answer, her action was met with laughter from the audience when she was told that she didn’t have to yell.  
“I’m sorry!” Yui exclaimed, her voice echoed and there was more laughter. Yui walked back to the center of her side of the ramp. She gazed at Kyou and even though there was a distance she could see a spark in his eyes. Now she was ready.   
“BEGIN!” The mayor announced. The word “Duel” written in digital text appeared on the player’s boxes. Yui’s holographic screen and board appeared in bright red, while Kyou’s gleamed a shiny silver.

DUEL!

Yui: 4000  
Kyou: 4000

Yui: Scissors  
Kyou: Paper

Turn 1: Yui  
Yui was first, she looked at her hand, it was much better than the last duel but she did not want to think too soon. The best thing to do was set up a defense.  
“I summon Kitsune Girl: Specter”  
A teenage spear wielding girl appeared on the field. She had fair skin and her hair was split into two braids, one side white and the other side black, she wore a black and white short-skirted sundress with long wide sleeves, a red ribbon around her waist and white socks with sandals. Her fox ears and three tails were white with black tips, she winked and just for a second her open eye changed color. 

Kitsune Girl: Specter  
Lvl 3  
Atk: 1200 Def: 1800  
Fire  
Beast Warrior  
When this card is alone on the field, you can special summon one level 3 or lower monster from hand

“Specter’s effect activates! I special summon Kitsune Woman: Ice!” A woman in a long blue kimono with white diamond patterns appeared. She had long white hair along with white ears and nine white tails.

Kitsune Woman: Ice  
Lvl 3  
Atk: 1600 Def: 1800   
Water  
Beast- Warrior  
When this card is used to xyz summon, the summoned xyz monster cannot be targeted for battle on the opponent’s next turn

“I overlay Level 3 Ice and Specter to build the overlay network” Both Kitsunes turned into beams of light, Ice being blue and Specter being red. They both flew into the glowing portal that appeared.   
“Xyz Summon! Rank 3 Gumiho Magician: Illusionist”

Gumiho Magician: Illusionist  
Rank 3  
Atk: 2700 Def: 2700  
Fire  
Spellcaster  
XYZ  
OU: 2  
2 or more Level 3 Monsters. Detach one overlay unit target one monster and cut it’s attack and defense in half. If this card’s attack points are reduced to zero this card gains double its original attack points for one turn

Out from the portal was a woman with long black hair, white ears, tails and two red balls of light circling around her. She spun around in the air a few times before making the glass orb she uses to perform her magic appear.   
“Ice’s effect activates! Illusionist is safe until my next turn” From the red glowing orbs “Kitsune Woman: Ice” appeared in a phantom like form. Swirls of frost appeared from her hands as a thick clear wall of ice rose from the ground to shield both Yui and Illusionist. 

“I set one card and end my turn”

Turn 2: Kyou

“My turn, Draw!”

“I send Habi-Pack Lambda to the graveyard and using its effect I summon two level three Habi-Packs from the deck” Kyou summoned two of his monsters however, these wolves weren’t like Kyou’s usual forest or snow dwelling beasts. One had a silver-gray coat and the other had fur that was colored like desert sand. 

  
Habi-Pack: Mountain Theta  
Lvl 3  
Atk: 800 Def: 1300  
Earth  
Beast  
When this card is normal or special summoned you gain 400 life points

Habi-Pack: Desert Theta  
Lvl 3  
Atk: 800 Def: 1300  
Fire  
Beast  
When this card is normal or special summoned you gain 400 life points

Kyou: 4000 → 4800

Once Kyou’s life points went up he summoned his usual Forest Beta, and using its effects he special summoned Arctic Epsilon. 

Habi-Pack: Forest Beta  
Lvl 4  
Atk: 1400 Def: 1400  
Earth   
Beast  
When this card is summoned you can special summon another Lvl 3 or lower beast type monster in your hand

Habi-Pack: Arctic Epsilon  
Lvl 3  
Atk: 1000 Def: 1000  
Water  
Beast  
Send one card to the graveyard to change the level of one monster on your field

Kyou sent another card from his hand to the graveyard thus changing Epsilon from a level 3 to a level 4. An Alpha and Omega were coming, Yui thought. To which she was right, two glowing portals appeared before Kyou. Streams of red, blue and orange light flew in, once the portals closed two wolves with glowing blue streak patterns appeared.  
… Blue streaks?

Moonlight Alpha  
Rank 4  
Atk: 2700 Def; 3000  
Light  
Beast  
Xyz Monster  
OU: 2  
You can detach one overlay unit to skip your opponent’s turn, however you cannot draw or normal summon on your next turn. You can only activate this effect once every other turn.

Moonlight Omega  
Rank 3  
Atk: 2000 Def; 3000  
Light  
Beast  
OU: 2  
You can detach one overlay unit to skip your opponent’s turn, however you cannot draw or normal summon on your next turn. You can only activate this effect once every other turn.

Oh no…

“I activate Alpha’s ability! I detach one overlay unit and skip your turn” Kyou announced. The ice wall shielding ‘Illusionist’ shattered. Yui assumed once of the pieces had hit her back due to feeling a chill up her spine. 

“I end my turn”

Turn 3: Yui (Skipped)

Turn 4: Kyou

“I start my turn again, due to Alpha’s ability I cannot draw or summon this turn, Alpha Attacks Illusionist!”

With that, Alpha lunged itself forward swiping its claws at Illusionist, but once the claws had cracked Illusionist’s orb a large explosion was released, destroying both monsters. 

“Now Omega attacks you directly!” Kyou announced. The second wolf launched itself off the platform. Two large paws made contact on Yui’s shoulders as she was forced down. She caught a glance of the snarling beast’s fangs and shut her eyes from fear. 

Yui: 4000 → 2000

“I end my turn” Kyou said. Yui got up, she was surprised at how Kyou was making this duel so fast, she thought he would have wanted to drag it out, show off his skills and have fun. Or was this turn a warning? Telling her that she better play seriously. Yui began to wonder if the melted ice caused vines to grow from the ground and tangled around her feet, but then she remembered she wasn’t on the ground, she was on the platform of a Half-pipe. Either way, she was in a bind. Warning or not Yui intended to play seriously, she announced her turn and drew her card. 


	14. Fire 14: Power and Show

**Kyou:**

LP: 4800

_Moonlight Alpha_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2700 Def: 3000_

_Light_

_Beast_

_Xyz Monster_

_OU: 1_

_Moonlight Omega_

_Rank 3_

_Atk: 2000 Def: 3000_

_Light_

_Beast_

_OU: 2_

**Yui:**

LP: 2000

**Turn 5: Yui**

“My turn, Draw!”

“I reveal my face-down” the reversed card on the field flipped up revealing a purple card with the illustration of a violet flame. 

_Fox Fire- Violet_

_Continuous Trap_

_Draw 1 card on the turn this card was activated. Each time a monster on the field is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard inflict 100 damage to your opponent._

Yui drew another card, it was a monster with a good ability and so she took the opportunity to summon it.

_Kitsuné Woman: Snow_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1600 Def: 1800_

_Water_

_Beast- Warrior_

_This card can be special summoned from your hand if you have “Kitsuné Woman: Ice” in the graveyard_

Yui looked at her hand again and quickly came up with a strategy. She activated her spell card “Fox Fire- Orange”. Using her spell’s effect she added a card to her hand and summoned a monster. 

_Fox Fire- Orange_

_Continuous Spell_

_When this card is activated, You can add 1 Level 4 or lower to your hand. Each turn a Fire or Light type Monster is on your field inflict 200 damage to your opponent_

_Kitsuné Woman: Wind_

_Lvl 4_

_Atk: 1400 Def: 1300_

_Wind_

_Beast- Warrior_

_When this card is Normal Summoned you can special summon a Level 4 or below monster from your hand or Deck_

“Wind’s effect activates! I special summon Kitsune Woman: Fire”

“I summon Kitsune Woman: Fire”

_Kitsuné Woman: Fire_

_Lvl 4_

_Atk: 1500 Def: 1400_

_Fire_

_Beast- Warrior_

_When this card is special summoned you can special summon another ‘Kitsune Woman’ from the deck with 0 attack points._

“Now Fire’s effect activates! I special summon Kitsune Woman: Dark”

A black and white kimono-clad woman appeared on Yui’s side of the field, she had black fox ears, ivory white hair and 9 black tails with white tips.

_Kitsuné Woman: Dark_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1000 → 0 Def: 1400 → 0_

_Dark_

_Beast- Warrior_

_When this card is special summoned inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent_

Kyou: 4800 → 4500

With four monsters Yui began Xyz summoning. Two pairs of lights danced in the air before entering portals. From one portal was “Gumiho Apsara: Tiger” and from the other was a new monster. Her silk like hair, fox ears, and tails were black. She had sharp eyes and a sly grin on her face, along with a kimono in the shade of royal blue and a loose purple obi which revealed a dangerous amount of smooth skin. 

_Gumiho Apsara: Tiger_

_Rank 4_

_Atk: 2500 Def: 3200_

_Fire_

_Beast Warrior_

_XYZ_

_OU: 2_

_2 Level 4 Monsters._

_Detach one overlay unit to negate an attack and damage_

_Gumiho Woman: Seduction_

_Rank 3_

_Atk: 1800 Def: 1000_

_Fire_

_Beast Warrior_

_XYZ_

_OU: 2_

_2 or more Level 3 Monsters_

_You can detach one Overlay unit, Target one monster on the field, bring its atk to 0_

“I activate Seduction’s ability! I remove one overlay unit to bring Alpha’s attack to zero” Seduction raised an eyebrow once she was given the command, she reluctantly but enticingly blew a kiss at the white wolf.

_Moonlight Alpha_

_Atk:2700 → 0_

When the wolf received the kiss, Alpha looked around, curious to why there were pink hearts swirling around its head.

“Seduction attacks Alpha and Apsara attacks Omega” Apsara slammed her spear onto Omega. Seduction delivered a “femme fatale” blow, as she revealed a tanto knife from her kimono and plunged it into Alpha. 

Kyou: 4500 → 2200

As the monsters engaged in battle, Kyou blocked his face from the blasts. Fox Fire- Violet activates. 

Kyou: 2200 → 2000

Yui ended her turn, in terms of life points and skill they were evenly matched. But even so, Yui couldn’t let her guard down just yet. If Kyou were to summon another Alpha, he would most likely try to use up Apsara’s overlay units.

**Turn 6: Kyou**

“My turn, Draw!” 

Kyou: 2000 → 1800

Kyou looked at his hand for a second before making his next move.

“I set one monster, and I set two cards” three face-down cards appeared on the field, one placed horizontally and the other two vertically. 

“I end my turn” 

**Turn 7: Yui**

“My turn! Draw!”

Kyou: 1800 → 1600

Kyou had used up his hand and unfortunately so did Yui. She didn’t have any monster cards in her hand and Kyou’s field was most likely a trap. Kyou didn’t have many life points left, if Yui conjured more burning effects maybe she could win the match by being patient. The question was whether or not she should attack. If she attacked then she wouldn’t be caught in the trap. However, Kyou had a large number of monster cards in his deck if she didn’t attack then Kyou would xyz summon again. After a few minutes of thinking, Yui made her decision. 

“I set two cards” Yui announced, she was going to battle, hopefully the trap would be easy to get out of.

“Battle! Apsara attacks your face down” Apsara lunged in the air and spun around with her spear before diving down to Kyou’s face-down monster. The card flipped up revealing one of Kyou’s usual wolves. 

“Trap Card open! Pack Rescue!” the first of the two reverse cards flipped up. The card had an illustration of an injured wolf being protected by two other wolves from a shadowy animal that resembled an ox.

_Pack Rescue_

_Counter Trap_

_When your opponent declares battle, cut your life points in half and special summon two level or lower beast type monsters from your deck in defense position and stop the battle, at the end of your opponent’s turn_ _choose one of the monsters on your field and put it in your hand the rest return to your deck_

Kyou’s life points dropped to 800, he special summoned two of his “Lambdas”. Apsara stops her dive and lands in front of the wolves. The field was now territory to the wolves, Kyou wasn’t done yet, he called and activated his second face-down card. It had an illustration of three glowing green eyes in a shadowy background. Yui was very much “in the doghouse now”. 

_Pack’s Intimidation_

_Normal Trap_

_When there are two or more beast type monsters on your field, your opponent’s monsters return to the deck and/or extra deck and your opponent takes 400 points of damage for each monster that was returned._

The eyes of the three wolves began to glow, Apsara and Seduction wore an expression of fear before having to return to Yui’s extra deck. 

Yui: 2000 → 1200

Yui wore a glum expression, her field was empty once again. With no other choice she ended her turn.

**Turn 8: Kyou**

Kyou’s turn began, his monsters returned to his deck while one went to his hand. He announced his turn and drew from his deck.

“Trap card open! Fox Fire- Blue!” Yui announced as a card with a blue flame flipped up on her field. There was a chance she could get overpowered any minute but she was going to put up a fight. 

_Fox Fire- Blue_

_Continuous Trap_

_Each turn there is a continuous spell or trap card on the field inflict 100 damage to your opponent_

“Magic Card! Pack’s Peace and Feast”

_Pack’s Peace and Feast_

_Spell_

_When both players have 1500 or less life points and 2 or less cards in their hands, both players gain 500 life points and can draw until they have five cards in hand_

Kyou: 800 → 1300

Yui: 1200 → 1700

The monster card that Kyou put in his hand last turn was a “Lambda”. He sent it to the graveyard, using its effect he summoned two more wolves, but to Yui’s surprise the monsters that Kyou had summoned were not the same level.

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Theta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 800 Def: 1300_

_Water_

_Beast_

_When this card is normal or special summoned you gain 400 life points_

Kyou: 1300 → 1700

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Lambda_

_Lvl 2_

_Atk: 1000 Def: 500_

_Water_

_Beast_

_Tuner_

_You can send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monsters from your Deck, but they have their effects negated and attack points zero_

“I normal summon Habi-Pack: Forest Theta”

_Habi-Pack: Forest Theta_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 800 Def: 1300_

_Earth_

_Beast_

_When this card is normal or special summoned you gain 400 life points_

Kyou: 1700 → 2100

“Yui! This is something I’ve been wanting to show you” Kyou called out. A small smile appeared on Yui’s face as she watched intently.

“Level 2 Arctic Lambda tunes level 3 Arctic Theta and Level 3 Forest Theta!” Upon Kyou’s command, Lambda released a skyward howl. The three wolves began to glow green and rings of light appeared from Lambda’s muzzle. Once the bodies of each wolf were enveloped in glow, they burst into green stars. 

2* + 3* + 3* = 8*

“The lone wolf who can survive in any terrain, it’s merciless to enemies and always the first to eat” As Kyou chanted, the eight stars began to spin around the rings of light from Lambda’s still audible howl. Kyou placed a white card on his board. The stars spun faster and faster until they formed a visible ring of light that burst bright a few seconds later. 

“Synchro Summon! Appear Level 8, No Pack Alpha!” The light fades revealing a large wolf with grey and white fur and yellow-brown eyes. 

_No Pack Alpha_

_Lvl 8_

_Atk: 2600 Def: 3000_

_Dark_

_Beast_

_Synchro_

_1 tuner + 1 non tuner beast monster_

_Once per turn you can remove from play one monster in your graveyard and raise this monster’s attack points by 400 until the end phase_

“I activate Alpha’s effect, I banish one monster from my graveyard to raise its attack points”

_No Pack Alpha_

_Atk: 2600 → 3000_

“Battle! No Pack Alpha Attacks!” The large wolf lunges toward the sky, Yui looks up, the sound of a card flipping up, the attack closes in and suddenly an explosion of smoke.

From the audience, Evie gets up from her seat, she tries to look for Yui but can’t see through the smoke. She calls out her name but no response. As the dust clears, Yui is seen crouched with her hands covering her head. A yellow sphere of light encircles the duelist as a gold phantom of a fox-tailed woman embraces her from behind. Yui’s life points didn’t change and a new trap card appeared face up on her field.

_Kitsune Blessing_

_Counter Trap_

_Negate damage from a direct attack_

The sphere of light disappears and the specter fades away. Yui removed her hands from her head and got up from crouching. 

“Was raising the attack points necessary?” Yui asked. The air goes quiet for a moment. Shoulders started to shake, smiling lips began to quiver, and suddenly both players burst into laughter. 

“I-I’m sorry, I end my turn” Kyou said as he was trying to calm himself.

**Turn 9: Yui**

Kyou: 2100 → 2000

Yui took a deep breath before drawing her card. She was suprised to see that she had drawn “Loss” and her ritual spell card was already in her hand. Again, Yui didn’t remember ever putting the two cards in her deck. Yui thought now would be the time Loss would telepathically communicate to her and try to convince her into playing those cards. But to Yui’s surprise, she couldn’t hear Loss. The fact that Yui managed to hold off against Kyou for this long made her think a little more pridefully. Looking at her hand again, Yui realized she could show off. The ritual summoning of the mysterious card could wait. It wasn’t mandatory. It’s “her Loss”. Wait that sounded wrong… Moving on!

“Magic Card! Igniting a Fox’s Fire!”

_Igniting a Fox’s Fire_

_Quick Play Spell_

_Special summon one Kitsune Woman from your hand_

“I special summon Kitsune Woman: Light” In a flash of light appeared a young woman with short blonde hair along with yellow ears and tails, she wore a yellow kimono with a pink obi and held a small pink staff. 

_Kitsuné Woman: Light_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 1000 Def: 1400_

_Light_

_Beast- Warrior_

_Once per turn you can target a monster and change their level. (Max. 9)_

“I normal summon Kitsune Vulpine: Screamer”

_Kitsune Vulpine: Screamer_

_Lvl 3_

_Atk: 0 Def: 1700_

_Light_

_Beast_

_Flip_

_Tuner_

_Flip Effect: this card gains 900 Def until the end of your opponent’s turn but then loses 1000 Def_

“I activate Light’s ability! I raise her level up by 3” The blonde fox woman held up her staff, her body began to glow as she changed from level 3 to level 6. With that

“Level 3 Kitsune Vulpine: Screamer tunes Level 6 Kitsune Woman: Light” 

Screamer’s body lit ablaze and burst into three green flames. The flames flew to Light, rapidly encircling the monster’s body, creating three fiery rings, then flaring up into a column of fire.

“Keeper of the mysterious temple, both beautiful and strong! Level 9 Gumiho Woman: Shrine Priestess!”

From the column of fire appeared a young woman with short black hair, white ears and tails. She wore a red hakama, a white haori, and carried a golden staff.

_Gumiho Woman: Shrine Priestess_

_Lvl 9_

_Atk: 2700 Def: 1000_

_Light_

_Beast Warrior_

_Synchro_

_1 tuner + 1 or more non tuner monsters_

_When this card is summoned you can send all continuous spell and trap cards on your field to the graveyard, then target a number of monsters in your graveyard equal to the number of spells and traps sent to the graveyard, shuffle all targeted monsters into your deck_

“Shrine Priestess’s effect activates! I send all my three ‘Fox fires’ to the graveyard and target three monsters to shuffle back in my deck” 

Priestess raised her staff in the air and Yui looked over the monsters in her graveyard, she made sure to include ‘Screamer’ as one of the three cards to return to her deck. The continuous spells and traps on Yui’s field formed into glittering streams of light and flew to Yui’s deck box. Yui wasn’t done yet, she activated another spell from her hand. The card had an illustration of two white nine-tailed foxes entering a fiery orange spiral in the background.

“I activate Fox Fusion!”

_Fox Fusion_

_Fusion Spell_

_Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster that lists a “Kitsune Woman” as material from your Extra Deck, using materials from your hand, deck or field_

After activating that spell, Yui sent ‘Screamer’ back to the graveyard along with a “ Kitsune Woman” from her deck. A small ember appeared in the air and spun around before expanding and forming a portal. Phantom like depictions entered the portal before it closed and burst, revealing a new monster. This monster was unlike any other card in Yui’s deck, it was a cluster of dark smoke with two sharp white eyes. 

_Kitsune Shapeshifter_

_Lvl 6_

_Atk: 0 Def: 1300_

_Dark_

_Beast Warrior_

_Fusion_

_1 “Kitsune Woman” monster + 1 beast type monster_

_Once per turn during the battle phase you can target one Level 4 monster in your graveyard and equip it to this card, by the end phase remove from play the equipped card_

“Battle! Shrine Priestess attacks No Pack Alpha” 

Shrine Priestess leaps into the air, she reveals an ofuda and chants in a mysterious language. Priestess glides to Kyou’s side of the field and throws the paper talisman at the large wolf. The wolf started to shake as it tried to remove the paper from its forehead. A burst of smoke and the wolf is gone.

Kyou:

2000 → 1900

Yui then commanded ‘Shapeshifter’ to attack Kyou directly. But before the clouds of smoke flew to Kyou’s side of the field, Yui activated the card’s effect. From her graveyard she chose “Kitsune Woman: Ice” to equip onto ‘Shapeshifter’. 

_Kitsune Shapeshifter:_

_Atk: 0 → 1800_

Suddenly the fusion monster was no longer a cumulation of clouds but a copy of “Kitsune Woman: Ice”. ‘Shapeshifter’ now in the form of “Ice” brought her hands together, and threw a small fireball that appeared in its hands. The ball of spark flew to Kyou and exploded on impact with the boy. Yui ended her turn, and ‘Shapeshifter’ sublimated back to its gas-like form.

Kyou: 

1900 → 100

**Turn 10: Kyou**

From the explosion, Kyou’s hair was slightly moved out of place. A parting in one of his bangs had closed like curtains and covered one of his golden eyes. But Kyou didn’t seem bothered by it, he announced his turn and drew his card. He looked at his hand and visibly grinned. He fixed his hair so that both eyes were visible. 

“I activate Sigma Spell!” As he announced, Kyou revealed a card in his hand that was similar to Yui’s “Fox Fusion”. But instead of foxes, the card had an illustration of two beastly wolf-like creatures encircling a brown and green spiral background. 

_Sigma Spell_

_Fusion Spell_

_Fusion summon one Beast type monster from your extra deck, using materials from your hand or field_

Kyou took three cards from his hand and sent them to his graveyard. The spell card appeared on the field and formed a glittering portal below. The three cards Kyou had sent to the graveyard had formed into balls of light and entered the portal. The portal closed up and suddenly the field began to violently shake, which startled Yui. A large crack formed on the ground and out from it leaped an enormous three-headed wolf. The tri-headed wolf had a shiny black coat, intimidating red eyes, and a tail with fur that almost seemed as sharp as its fangs. 

_Underworld Alpha_

_Lvl 8_

_Atk: 2300 Def: 3000_

_Dark_

_Beast_

_Fusion_

_3 “Habi-Pack” Monsters_

_When this card is summoned you can remove this card from play to destroy all cards from the field, The opponent loses 100 life points for each monster on their field that was removed from play,_ _you cannot special summon any monsters on the turn you activated this card’s effect_

“I activate Underworld Alpha’s Ability, I remove him from play and destroy all cards on the field”

The three heads began to howl. Suddenly the ground shook and formed more cracks. Once the cracks had reached Yui’s side of the field the ground had caved in causing Yui’s monsters to plummet into frightening darkness. Underworld Alpha disintegrated into dust and was blown away in the wind. 

Yui: 1700 → 1500 

“I summon Habi-Pack: Arctic Beta”

_Habi-Pack: Arctic Beta_

_Lvl 4_

_Atk: 1400 Def: 1400_

_Water_

_Beast_

_When this card is summoned you can special summon another Lvl 3 or lower beast type monster in your hand_

The monster leaped from Kyou’s side of the field and onto Yui’s. Yui instinctively shut her eyes as a pair of strong paws were pressed against her shoulders, pushing her to the ground. The wolf displayed its teeth as it snarled before running back to the other side of the field. 

Yui: 1500 → 100

“I end my turn” Kyou announced. Yui got back up, she was slightly shivering due to the cold breath of the winter wolf that lingered on her neck. 

‘This was bad’ Yui thought. At this point, both players were playing rather recklessly. Kyou’s hand was now empty. Yui had “Loss”, she had not lost but she had nothing to summon Loss. It was her turn, and Yui had one thought in her mind. 

She. must. win. 


	15. Fire 15: Candles

It was a few days before the announcement of the Tournament Finals. Yui stood in Mayor Mizutani’s office, Skateboard in her arms and Evie by her side. The sun was setting, out the windows were a couple of clouds floating above a pink-colored sky. The mayor was their guardian, he had shown them nothing but warmth and affection. At this moment Yui felt nervous, she stared at the ground for some time before speaking. She told the mayor about Kyou’s living conditions, his past, how the three had played together before meeting again in school. Yui took a deep breath, she walked up and placed the skateboard on the desk. She deeply appreciated the gift but she couldn’t take it. Yui asked for permission to have Kyou live with her and Evie. There was a long silent pause. Concern was visible on Evie’s face, Yui’s eyes showed her determination, and shadows had covered the mayor’s as he was deep in thought. The silence was broken once he spoke. He made a deal, if Yui won the tournament finals then the mayor would agree to let Kyou live with them. Otherwise, the mayor would send Kyou to an orphanage in the city. Yui gave the idea a lot of thought. Either outcome would be good for Kyou but she did not want the second option, she did not want to lose. Yui agreed to the deal. She was determined to win.

… 

**Yui:**

LP: 100

**Kyou:**

LP: 100

_ Habi-Pack: Arctic Beta _

_ Lvl 4 _

_ Atk: 1400 Def: 1400 _

_ Water  _

_ Beast _

**Turn 11: Yui**

Yui finished reminiscing. There was guilt when she realized she had left Kyou alone all those years, probably cold and hungry. At school, she never talked to him that much until recently. She was too reserved to approach him, but he had no trouble approaching her. Yui had to win so that by the end of the day they would both be winners. The next card had to be a monster card.

“My turn! Draw!” Yui announced, she took a pause before looking at the card. No! It was a spell card. A brief grimace had appeared on Yui’s face, but maybe she could make it work, she just wouldn’t be able to summon ‘Loss’.

“I activate Fox Fire- Green” Yui announced, revealing the card she had drawn. 

_ Fox Fire- Green _

_ Quick Play Spell _

_ When this card is activated, send one card from your hand to the graveyard, both players draw two cards. _

Yui sent Loss’s ritual spell to the graveyard and drew two cards, as did Kyou. Yui gazed at her hand again, to her surprise a different ritual spell had come to her, along with a three-tailed “Kitsune Vulpine”. Yui pondered on what strategy to use, she stared alot at the second ritual spell. The card had an illustration of a dark room with an altar that was ablaze and below the altar had an unrolled scroll with glowing orange letters. While staring, she had discreetly stopped a yawn. Yui hadn’t been sleeping much as of late. She started running extra laps during track team practice to tire herself out. She had also been staying up late arranging her cards and reading manga. She wanted to avoid dreaming as they have been mostly scary or confusing.

Dreams? That’s it! Yui perked up as an idea had struck her. She summoned ‘3 Tails’ from her hand and used its effect to special summon ‘6 tails’. Yui then used the effect from ‘6 tails’ to special summon ‘9 tails’. From there Yui activated the second effect of her ‘Vulpines’, changing their levels from two to three. 

“I overlay level three ‘3 tails’ and ‘6 tails’ to Xyz summon, Rank 3! Gumiho Woman: Dream Eater!”

Out from the starry portal appeared a fox woman with cosmic blue hair along with blue ears and nine blue tails. She wore a shimmering black kimono and held a pendulum that resembled a dream catcher. 

_ Gumiho Woman: Dream Eater _

_ Rank 3 _

_ Atk: 1300 Def: 1900 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast Warrior _

_ XYZ _

_ XYZ Monster _

_ 2 or more Level 3 Monsters _

_ During your main phase you can detach one overlay unit to activate one of the two effects, cut your life points in half to search for one monster card in your deck and add to your hand OR target one monster on the field and increase their level (max. 6)  _

“I activate ‘Dream Eater’s ability! I detach one overlay unit to add a card to my hand” Upon Yui’s words, one of the overlay units that revolved around ‘Dream Eater’ had entered into the dream catcher pendulum. Yui was hit with a wave of drowsiness as her life points went down. A single card popped from Yui’s deck, she took it into her hand as she continued her preparations.

Yui: 100 → 50

“I activate ‘Dream Eater’s second effect! I detach her second overlay unit to change the level of ‘9 tails’” Yui was hit with another wave of drowsiness while ‘9 Tails’ changed from level three to level nine.

Yui: 50 → 25

Now Yui was prepared. She thought about the time she talked to Kyou, she remembered saying that her flames could not burn fast enough in order to defeat him. But Yui realized something, if her flames were not hot enough, then she should turn up the heat!

“I activate the ritual spell, Path of Pyromancy!” Yui announced as she revealed the first card. A large square pit of fire had appeared in front of her once she placed the spell card on her board. She tributed her level nine ‘Kitsune Vulpine: 9 Tails’ and began her chant.

“Master of the ancient art, she burns her enemies with beauty and harnesses white flames” Yui took the light blue card from her hand

“I ritual summon! Kitsune Woman: Pyromancer!” Hot flames violently erupted from the square pit. Once the pit had burst the fire had become a spinning sphere of flames. From the flames appeared a woman with tan skin and short white hair in the style of a bob cut. She had white fox ears and nine white tails. Her outfit too was all white, she was barefoot, wearing a strapless top, cloth shorts, fingerless gloves that reached her elbows, and a belt with long cloths that flowed down her sides. The fox woman appeared ecstatic, stretching out her arms and legs as the flames around her dispersed.

_ Kitsuné Woman: Pyromancer _

_ Lvl 9 _

_ Atk: 2900 Def: 2700 _

_ Fire _

_ Beast- Warrior _

_ Ritual Monster _

_ When this card is ritual summoned inflict 100 points of damage for each extra deck monster card in your opponent’s graveyard _

“I activate ‘Pyromancer’s effect and with that, I win!” Yui announced excitedly. ‘Pyromancer’ formed a ring of white fire from her hands and as if throwing a disk, she then threw the ring to Kyou’s side of the field. The ring flew over the boy’s head and fell down to his feet which immediately erupted. Yui jerked in shock as she heard Kyou scream within the column of fire. She left a twinge of guilt as she thought that the move was a bit too extreme. 

Kyou: 100 → 0

**Winner: Yui**

The column of fire had died, the monsters had disappeared and the crowd was completely silent. Yui was panting with her eyes wide. It was way too hot. Suddenly Kyou had fallen back. Yui quickly snapped out of her daze and called out the boy’s name. She frantically looked around for her skateboard. Yui had never actually gone down the half-pipe but putting that thought aside she quickly positioned her board beneath her feet and dropped in. Once she had reached Kyou’s side Yui launched herself up, leaving her board on the bottom of the ramp. She kneeled beside Kyou, and helped him sit up, his hair was again covering his eyes.

“Kyou?” Yui asked. A second passed before a wide grin spread across his face. Kyou moved his hair away from his eyes and let out a soft chuckle 

“That was fun!” Kyou laughed. Yui joined in on the laughter but they both stopped when the realization hit them. It was too quiet. Yui looked around at the audience, most of which were students from Souel Middle School. She even recognized the three students who were troubling her on that day in front of the closed skate park. All of which had their mouths open as if their jaws were dropped. Yui began to worry, were they mad that she won? Then suddenly-

“YEAH!!!” The crowd roared and cheered, confetti popped from the sides of the half pipe as people chanted Yui’s name. Yui in response turned bright red, she helped Kyou stand up while staring at her feet. But while her eyes were glued to the floor, she couldn’t stop smiling.

… 

The tournament was over. The mayor had presented the grand prize to Yui, which was a gift card worth a large sum. A celebration was in order, therefore the Trio were treated to dinner. The four sat together at a barbecue restaurant while pieces of meat were sizzling on the grill centered on the table. The restaurant was filled with chatter and the smell of grilled meat and vegetables. Yui, Evie and Kyou happily ate in silence until the mayor brought up a question.

“Kyou, may I ask? Where do you buy your clothes?”

The three stopped eating. Both Yui and Evie wore an expression of confusion and worry. Kyou took a minute to swallow the food he was chewing before answering.

“This was actually a gift, someone nice handmade it and gave it to me” Kyou explained. The mayor’s reaction was warm and reassuring, he reminisced and explained that his mother was a fashion designer. That fact was somehow nostalgic for the trio. Out of curiosity, Evie asked the Mayor where his mother lived. He answered, saying his mother had lived in a small residential area near a large park just a short distance away from the house. Another wave of nostalgia. Yui then asked the Mayor what his first name was. 

“My first name is Aozora” He said. Yui and Kyou fell in silent awe.

“Can we visit her one day?” Evie asked. The mayor took a long pause before answering. His mother had unfortunately passed away a few years ago. The nostalgia was suddenly replaced with sadness. Yui placed her hand on her necklace as she fidgeted with one of the gems. 

“But, let’s not dwell on the past, I can tell you three all about her if you want one day” The mayor offered as he tried to restore the happy atmosphere. The three continued to eat and Yui reminisced. She remembered the residential area, the rundown church, and the large fountain with coins. Suddenly she remembered that time Evie had brought her to that fountain to make a wish. Yui could help but wonder what Evie had wished for, letting curiosity get the better of her, she leaned closer to Evie and whispered to her.

“On that day you made a wish, what did you wish for?” Yui asked. Evie quickly chewed and swallowed before leaning to Yui and answering back. 

“I wished that you would gain courage, and it came true” Evie whispered back. To which Yui almost immediately denied by quickly shaking her head.

“Sir, have you noticed how brave Yui has been?” Evie asked, to which both Kyou and the mayor agreed. Yui’s face turned red, she blamed it on the grill. The mayor brought up how Yui used to be very afraid whenever she summoned “Pyromancer”. Yui hadn’t noticed it herself, but throughout the duel, she had been playing with fire and wasn’t afraid of being burned or not. She stared at the grilling meats, memories of being trapped in that burning room played in her head, Yui quickly shut her eyes and opened them up again. She still had a long way to go, she told herself. Her attention was stolen away when one of the waiters had placed a platter of fried tofu on the table. Yui was reminded of her Duel Monsters. She has read in a certain manga series that Kitsune Foxes love to eat fried tofu for some reason. Yui reminisced on her winning move, she remembered that ‘Loss’ was still in her hand on that final turn. Yui began to wonder, What did Loss think of her now?

_ Uhh… You do realize you could have just summoned your “Kumi Gumi” Thingy and you would have won so simply? _

Yui paused for a moment to think about the words Loss had telepathically told her. One side of her realized she was right. However, the other side of her didn’t want Loss to ruin her moment of victory. Yui started to eat from the plate of fried tofu, she didn’t think her monsters could eat, so in celebration, she’ll eat for them. 

… 

“Kyou, can we go to your place?” Yui asked. Dinner had ended and the four were on the path home. Kyou was confused as to why Yui had asked such a question. Evie and the Mayor decided to go home first. Kyou agreed with a hint of reluctancy. The two went down the path, through the residential area, through the forested park and into the small church. 

“Ok, gather your stuff” Yui said. The command had surprised Kyou, he asked why to which Yui replied.

“From now on, you’ll live with Me and Evie” There was a long pause before Kyou spoke up again.

“You’re kidding right?” Kyou asked. Yui firmly shook her head, she explained how she had already asked for permission from her guardian. She explained how she made a deal with the mayor, saying if she won the Kyou could live with her and Evie. No longer would Kyou have to sleep in such a cold lonely place. No longer would he have to eat so little food. There was still silence.

“Well?” Yui asked.

“Uh! Y-yeah! I’ll get my things!” Kyou stammered as he hurriedly stuffed his school uniform into his bag, along with his school supplies. Yui offered to carry the fabrics, it would have been a waste to just throw them away. The two didn’t say anything as they exited the church. They hurried home with bright smiles on their faces.

… 

Yui and Kyou returned to the Rei residence. Or should it be the “Rei + Sora residence”? Was Kyou’s last name “Rei” now? Evie then joked about how Yui’s last name should be “Sora” now, to which Yui immediately denied. The trio sat together on the couch in the living room, playing with the pets and chattering away. Yui saw the mayor inside the guest bedroom, which was now Kyou’s room. He was busy setting up and patting down the sheets and blankets so that Kyo would be comfortable. Yui got up from the couch and walked into the bedroom. Once inside the mayor greeted her and asked if she needed anything. There was one more thing Yui wanted to ask him. Yui knew about all where and how she was found. Now she wanted to know about Evie. Upon hearing the request, the mayor began explaining. He explained how one day he had found a young girl in tattered clothes and messy black hair. The girl was scared of anything and everything, one day she had climbed up a tall tree and cried because she couldn’t come down. That’s when Mizutani had come to rescue her when he had asked her how she got up the tree, she didn’t even know herself. When he had asked her where her parents were she didn’t know how to answer. No one in the city had claimed to be the guardian of the girl. So Mizutani decided to take her in and take care of her as if she were his own daughter. Time went on and the girl had become cheerful and brave. Especially brave, as seen on the night she heard and saved the girl who would be her sister. The mayor had finished his story and Yui began to fidget with her necklace again, it was a symbol of her bond with Evie. She couldn’t explain but she felt so happy. 

“Yui! We’re going to give all the pets names” Evie called, to which Yui gave her sincerest thanks to her guardian and went back to the living room.

… 

It was late at night, Evie and Kyou were most likely fast asleep. Except for Yui, laid out on her bed was her deck of cards, her school uniform and a simple red drawstring backpack. Yui wasn’t sure how to pack for a journey to another world. Did she need her uniform? Will she have to pretend to be a student? Even if she didn’t, a change of clothes could be useful. Will she need to bring money? Would it even be the same currency wherever it was she is going? Yui spent a few minutes of pondering, which was then interrupted by the sound of fluttering feathers. Yui turned around to see Loss herself.

“You probably think i’m running away, but i’m not” Yui started explaining as Loss kept silent. That night Yui decided to look for Kyou, it made her realize that in order to go on this journey, she must have courage. Yui wasn’t sure herself, but she believed she had become braver, she wanted to become braver, she wanted to learn about herself. These new worlds and these twelve individuals that she had learned intrigued her.    
“I’m not too sure how to start, can you help?” Yui asked. There was a long pause in the air as Loss was still silent. She then took a deep breath before answering

“You won’t need much, only your cards are necessary” Loss answered in her usual monotone voice, Yui was a bit surprised to receive such an answer, she asked if a change of clothes were ok to bring, to which Loss answered. 

“Yeah sure”

“What about this?” Yui asked while holding her skateboard in her hands.

“That’s fine” Loss replied. Yui rolled up her school uniform and stuffed it in her backpack, along with her helmet, knee and elbow pads. Yui’s deck box with cards clamped around her wrist. She pulled on the cords of the bag and slung it over her shoulders. She took a deep breath and took one last glance at her room almost as if she was saying goodbye. Yui felt nervous, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe her favorite manga series will have many chapters updated when she comes back. No backing down, Yui told herself before turning to Loss.

“I’m ready” she said. Loss didn’t reply, she simply lifted her hand in front of the nearby wall of the bedroom. Suddenly, as if reality had broken there were bright white cracks. Yui watched in fear and in awe as the cracks became larger and larger. Pieces of wall, or reality fell to the ground revealing an entrance to what seemed like a galaxy. There were endless stars that filled the black sky and a floating stone path that lead to what looked like a green portal from far away. Yui took a step forward, she took a glance at her room once more, Loss had disappeared. Yui took another step forward, she placed her foot on the floating stone path. It felt smooth and surprisingly steady. Both feet were on the path now. Yui walked down, heading towards the far away portal. No turning back, she told herself. Yui kept walking, unaware that the crack in reality had sealed up behind her. 


End file.
